


Boyfriends For The Summer

by faeryn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Artist!Anna, BAMF!Cas, Blow Jobs, Boyfriends, Cuddling, Day At The Beach, Dean gets handsy, Destiel - Freeform, Drama, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Holding Hands, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Kissing, M/M, Minor Violence, Public Displays of Affection, Resolved Sexual Tension, Shipper!Sam, Slow Burn, Snuggling, Summer Vacation, Unresolved Sexual Tension, meddling!sam, mild violence, minor hurt/comfort, porn is in chapter 10, redeemed!Ruby, touchy-feely Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-14 09:21:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2186298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faeryn/pseuds/faeryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Castiel's mother insists he brings home a boyfriend for Gabriel's graduation party, his best friend and roommate offers to pretend to be his boyfriend to stop her harassing him about being single. </p><p>In which Dean and Cas are so clueless about their feelings for each other they think they can safely fake a relationship for summer vacation...</p><p> </p><p>  <b>((The Explicit rating is for chapter 10 only. You can skip chapter 10 if you don't want to read that and miss no story. Likewise if you're looking for a porny fix you can read chapter 10 on its own and most likely hazard a guess as to wtf is going on.))</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pinkish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkish/gifts).



> Pinkish wanted something to do with fake boyfriends, and this idea got a little away from me... 
> 
> I'm hoping that by posting the first chapter it will encourage me to finish the rest of the fic sooner rather than later. 
> 
> Update schedule may be erratic - I would _like_ to update every week, but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one because I know I am unreliable as fuck. 
> 
> Tags will be updated as new chapters are added, I don't want to give everything away right off the bat. However, if there's a tag you think I've missed for content that's already there please don't hesitate to comment and let me know!
> 
>  
> 
> **The Explicit rating is for chapter 10 only. You can skip chapter 10 if you don't want to read that and miss no story. Likewise if you're looking for a porny fix you can read chapter 10 on its own and most likely hazard a guess as to wtf is going on.**

Dean heard the apartment door open and shut and grinned as the sounds of his roommate banging around in the hall almost drowned out the TV. Moments later Cas walked into the lounge, barefoot and bedraggled, and climbed over the back of the couch to flop down on the opposite side, tucking his feet under Dean’s legs. Wriggling his toes, he huffed loudly and Dean muted the TV.

“Alright, what?” He said, amusement in his voice. 

“My family are a pain in the ass,” Cas shot back, running his fingers through his hair. He motioned for Dean to put the sound back on and shuffled into some semblance of relaxation. Dean obliged and they watched the TV peacefully, Dean knowing Cas would tell him what was on his mind eventually. 

They’d been living together for almost two years now, friends for three ever since they met at college. They’d both been taking the same Literature class and had been assigned to work together on some project they couldn’t even remember. At first they hadn’t gotten along at all; Castiel was the very model of a perfect student, hard working and excellent grades, while Dean preferred to slack off for as long as he possibly could and party until the wee hours instead of focussing on his homework. Couple that with the fact that Dean was well known for being promiscuous, having a string of sighing girls following him almost everywhere he went, and Cas was a shy virgin outed by his older brother Gabriel to the LGBT club in his second week who just wanted to keep his head down and work… it seemed like they were destined to be at each others throats for the entire semester. To his pleasant surprise, though, when he angrily made his sexuality clear to Dean after the third time he tried to set his classmate up on a date with his friend Jo, Dean only blinked as his mental picture of Castiel shifted and then went on to gush about his best friend Charlie, a lesbian, and point out all the cute boys in their class he thought might be gay and/or have interest in Cas. 

Their friendship only grew from there and Castiel found himself eternally grateful to have a close friend who accepted him as he was, no questions asked, while Dean was pleased to find a sharp conversationalist in Cas, who never talked down to him or treated him like he was any less intelligent just because he preferred music and cars to studying. When their second year rolled around and they were talking about the pros and cons of university accommodation they decided it wasn’t an entirely awful idea for them to just get their own place together. It meant Dean’s brother Sam would have a place to crash when he visited, and with the two of them it was more than affordable. 

“My mom’s on my case again,” Cas broke Dean’s stroll down memory lane during a commercial break, leaning over to snag his best friend’s soda and guzzling the last few mouthfuls. 

“Your mom needs a fuckin’ hobby, man,” Dean laughed, getting up to grab them some popcorn and more drinks. It was the first weekend of summer vacation and they were looking forward to finally having time to relax before the next round of their studies began.

“Tell me about it.” They went back to watching the show, Cas’ bare feet still tucked under Dean’s leg with the popcorn bowl resting between his knees. Dean smirked at his friend as he reached between the other man’s legs to grab another handful and Cas rolled his eyes. 

“What’s her problem this time, buddy? She still sad you’re not dippin’ your wick in some hot twink’s ass every other weekend?” Cas fixed him with an icy glare but he only grinned back, knowing Cas never took his teasing seriously. 

“Not to put too fine a point on it, but yes. She says she’s ‘concerned’” he made air quotes and Dean fought back a laugh at his friend’s dorky mannerisms, “about my lack of a love life. To make matters worse, Gabriel’s just graduated and she wants to throw a big party to celebrate him getting his doctorate and is insisting I must bring a boyfriend along for her to meet. I’ve tried explaining to her I don’t _have_ a boyfriend, and do you know what she said?” Dean shook his head but knew it would be something awkward, hilarious or both to cause Cas this much frustration. “She said; ‘oh, just bring that nice boy you live with, he’s handsome enough, isn’t he?’ As if our living together somehow negated your sexuality,” he rolled his eyes again and took a swig of his soda. 

Dean stared at him for a couple of seconds and then started laughing uncontrollably, putting his soda on the coffee table as Cas began to beat him with a sofa cushion.

“It’s not _funny_ Dean! I have exactly two weeks to find and school some guy to be my fake boyfriend so my mom gets off my case or I can’t go to this stupid party and I haven’t seen Gabe in _months_ and I want to be there to congratulate him!” 

Dean held up his hands in surrender, shielding his face with his arms as he tried to get his laughter under control. “Cas, _Cas_ , man I’ll be your stupid fake boyfriend for fuck’s sake,” he laughed, managing to catch the cushion and hurling it across the room so Cas would stop attacking him. 

Cas couldn’t help his jaw dropping as Dean’s words sank in. “You… What?”

“Dude you’re meant to be the smart one with all the fancy words,” Dean teased, rescuing the popcorn bowl and picking up the pieces that had scattered under Castiel’s assault. 

“Sorry, I’m just surprised. Gabriel knows we’re not in a relationship anyway and if you come as my fake boyfriend everyone will expect you to do, you know, _boyfriend_ things and they’ll set us up in a single room…” He looked at his friend incredulously as if unable to believe what he was hearing.

“Don’t be stupid man, I know that. It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before,” Dean chuckled and Cas had to admit that was true.

Dean had this habit of getting drunk at parties and, if he didn’t go home with a chick or bring one back to his own bed, he would clatter in at some ungodly hour and end up snuggled up in bed with Cas instead of in his own room on the other side of the apartment. See, Dean had a big secret: he was a closet cuddler. He moaned and griped about how chicks always wanted to cuddle after sex but had confessed drunkenly to Castiel one night that he really, _really_ liked the human contact. Not for sexual purposes, he just liked the warmth of another human being and the feeling of having his arms around someone, or their arms around him. Cas didn’t mind being Dean’s backup snuggle, he just made sure to wear pajamas when Dean was going drinking - just in case - and let the taller guy curl around him late at night, breath warm on the back of his neck as he mumbled drunkenly. In the morning he got up and made breakfast and coffee then sat on the bed while Dean nursed his hangover. It hadn’t been awkward since the first time, but in Castiel’s defence he had been wearing nothing but boxers and had woken to Dean’s head resting on his chest. Panic overtook reason and for a few terrifying moments he thought _he_ had been drunk and taken advantage of his best friend before Dean woke and sleepily greeted him with an apology, shyly reminding him of his drunken confession and begging for his silence, which, of course, he gave.

“And besides,” Dean continued, “you’re my best friend. I won’t let it be weird if you won’t, and we can always just pretend to be one of those couples who aren’t big on PDA. Which basically leaves us with hand holding and cuddling, and I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna be a horrible chore,” he grinned mischievously. 

“I don’t know, Dean, they’re going to expect a certain amount of affection…” Cas frowned at him, mind racing as he considered Dean’s proposal.

“Look, Cas, when you’re in a relationship with someone there’s stuff you know about each other. How’re you gonna find a guy who can learn that much about you - and you about him - in two weeks? It’s stupid when I’m just gonna be sitting here on my ass doing fuck all while you’re away anyway, might as well be livin’ it up at your parents place. Then when your mom keeps calling you after and asking about your sweet-ass boyfriend you’ll have something to tell her to keep her off your back, and when you _do_ find someone you can tell her we broke up but you found a nice new guy to make you happy instead.”

Cas hesitated then huffed in annoyance. Dean had a point, and it would be _way_ less awkward and difficult faking a relationship with his best friend than with a virtual stranger and although he cared deeply for Dean it was definitely a platonic, friendly emotion rather than a repressed crush. They’d joked about it in the past when Dean’s brother Sam had visited and asked all kinds of leading questions about their friendship, and they’d even kissed a few times at parties (which Dean dragged a reluctant Cas to every so often) during party games or just to annoy people who were hitting on one or the other of them. He’d never felt that spark of romantic interest for Dean, though his gratitude for the other man’s seemingly unconditional friendship ran deep. 

“Fine. Okay. You’re right, it’s the best possible course of action and it’ll definitely get my mom off my back. Thank you.” 

“Does this mean you owe me a favour?” Dean grinned widely and Cas groaned, knowing this was likely to result in him being forced to go to parties for a month or something equally ridiculous. 

“I don’t know, it depends on how much you enjoy yourself,” Cas teased with a sly grin.

“Why, do you secretly have a hot cousin or something?” Dean grinned and Cas laughed loudly; maybe this wasn’t going to be such a bad vacation after all.

 

They pulled up outside Cas’ parents house in Miami a week later; once Anna Milton heard her youngest son was finally bringing a boy home she had insisted they stay the whole of summer vacation and nothing Cas said could dissuade her. It had been a long drive in Dean’s Impala and Cas soon found himself wishing Dean would agree to install air conditioning in the classic car. All these thoughts only distracted him from his nerves until they were sitting on the driveway outside the house he grew up in and Dean looked over to him with a concerned expression.

“Relax, man, they’re gonna buy it,” he leaned over and covered Cas’ hand with his own in an unusual gesture of affection. “It’s only for a few weeks and it’ll make your mom happy,” he grinned. 

“Dean, what are you doing?” Cas looked at him, slightly afraid.

“I’m comforting my not-boyfriend who looks like he’s about to puke in my baby cause I know his sister’s watching from the window,” Dean winked, “now give me a kiss on the cheek and we’ll go see your folks.”

Cas obliged, awkwardly brushing Dean’s cheek with his lips. His friend squeezed his hand gently in reassurance and they got out of the shiny black car, pulling their bags from the back seat and closing the doors with loud creaks. Dean all-but sprang up the steps with Cas following close behind and knocked cheerfully on the door, which opened in an instant. 

“Castiel!” A girl’s voice cried and he found himself with a face full of wavy blond hair as his younger sister threw herself into his arms.

“Muriel, you’ve grown,” he replied fondly, ruffling her hair. 

“ _Castiel_ , I’m sixteen years old you stupid, leave my hair alone!” Muriel pulled a face and turned to Dean. They’d met once before when Cas’ family had visited him at college a year ago so she gave him a hug too. “I’m glad Cas finally got up the nerve to ask you out, Dean, the UST in the room with you guys was _stifling_.” 

Dean only laughed, not sure what else to do, and hugged her back. “Good to see you too, Muriel, how’s school?” 

“Oh, you know, Malachi’s still a massive dick and Bela thinks she rules the place, fun times.”

She finally stepped aside so they could get into the house and Cas felt the tension ease from his shoulders as Dean and Muriel chatted amicably about school and college, their brothers and how excited his mom was that they were both visiting. 

“I’ll take you up to your room and then mom and dad said you should chill till they get home, okay?”

“That’s great Muriel, can we take some time to freshen up too? It’s been a long drive and even with the windows down that hulking monstrosity Dean calls a vehicle is like a hotbox.”

“Hey, hey, don’t insult my baby like that!” Dean turned and rested his forearms on Castiel’s shoulders in an oddly intimate move, bringing them close together and looking at him with all seriousness. “She’s a little dated but she’s a classic, you know how I feel about you picking on her, Cas,” he managed to pour guilt into every word and Cas found himself blushing and looking at the floor. 

“Sorry, I’m just hot and tired,” he mumbled.

“I forgive ya,” Dean said brightly, spinning away in an instant and following Muriel up the stairs to the room they would be sharing for the next few weeks. 

Muriel left them to it, to Castiel’s relief, and he flopped down on the bed with a sigh. This had been his room for his whole life, until he moved away to California to go to college, and he felt strangely safe in here despite Dean walking around him, picking up things and putting them down again. He was mumbling a running commentary that Cas couldn’t quite catch but the sound of his voice was reassuring and Cas closed his eyes to allow himself a few moments of peaceful relaxation before the inevitable whirlwind that would be his parents. The bed dipped as Dean dropped down next to him, stretching out to his full length and making the bones in his back crack from the long hours cooped up in the car. They lay there together in comfortable silence just enjoying the cool breeze from the open window and, for Cas, the familiar scents of home. 

It wasn’t until Cas woke to a quiet knock on the door that he realised they’d dropped off to sleep. Dean had curled around him as they dozed and he was now trapped in the taller man’s vice-like grip, nose stuck deeply into the short hair on the back of his neck.

“Just a second!” He called as another, louder, knock came from the door. “Dean, wake up,” he hissed, shaking his friend who blinked awake and released him with a yawn. Cas got up and slid over to the door, opening it and rubbing his face to clear the sleep from his eyes. Muriel peered past him curiously, trying to catch a glimpse of Dean on the bed, but Cas blocked her and frowned. “Yes, Muriel?”

“Mom and dad are home, I told them you guys holed up in here right after you got in and they said to leave you to it for a while but it’s nearly time for dinner and-“ she said all in a rush and Cas held up a hand to stem the incessant flow of words. 

“Okay, I understand, we’ll be down in a few minutes,” Cas said shortly and closed the door in her face. 

“You okay buddy?” Dean asked from the bed, at least sitting up now. 

“Think so. Reckon they’ll buy it?” 

“‘Course they will, if you ever _relax_.”

Cas huffed and Dean got up, quickly crossing the room and putting his arms around Castiel’s shoulders. “Dean, what are you doing?” Cas looked at his friend, tilting his head in confusion.

“Practicing,” Dean gave him a cheeky grin and then leaned down and pressed their lips together. It wasn’t their first kiss, by any means, and Cas just blew his breath out through his nose in exasperation as Dean kissed him. He soon pulled away and slid his hands down Cas’ arms, taking one of his hands and squeezing gently. “Now, can you chill out so I don’t have to do _all_ the acting?”

“I hate you so much,” Cas grumbled but squeezed his hand back and pulled open the bedroom door.

 

“Castiel!” Anna Milton rushed forward as they reached the bottom of the stairs, red hair brushing her shoulders as she pulled her youngest son into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you could make it, we’ve missed you so much!” She held him at arm’s length, studying his face as only a mother would and apparently being satisfied with what she saw because she released him to be embraced by his father. 

“Hey Cas, good to see you,” Chuck said quietly and Cas nodded. 

“And Dean, so lovely of you to come,” Anna took his hands and squeezed them before giving him a hug as well.

“Wouldn’t miss it, ma’am, anything for Cas,” Dean replied.

“Oh sweetheart,” she pulled away and smiled, touching his face fondly before hustling them all into the dining room for dinner. 

“So Cas,” Muriel said as they ate, flipping her hair over her shoulder and fixing her brother with a mischievous look, “how did you finally get up the nerve to ask mister ladykiller here out?”

Cas spluttered; they had forgotten to come up with a cover story for that one, and he grabbed his coke and took a long drink to give himself time to think.

“Actually,” Dean answered for him, “I asked him.” They all turned their attention to him and Cas gaped for a second before realising he should know the story and quickly schooled his expression. 

“Oh _really?_ I thought you were all rugged-alpha-male-hetero-man.” Muriel sounded sceptical and Cas chuckled.

“Go on then, you tell them,” he said, smiling at Dean and putting his hand on his shoulder. He was still getting the hang of this affectionate touching thing, but Dean seemed to take to it like a natural, covering his hand with his own and giving him this look like he was the only one in the room. Cas gulped, it was a little bit frightening how easily Dean slipped into this role and he made a mental note to ask his friend about it later. 

“Well I guess it was inevitable, there’s always been something different about Cas, right from the time we met. I was always trying to impress him with how much chicks liked me ‘cause I thought that’s what straight guys like, you know? They wanna know their friends are non-threatening. But by the time he told me he was gay it was way too late to take it back and I was too embarrassed to admit I was bi in case he thought I was only sayin’ it to be cool… But after living with him so long I just couldn’t hold it in any more, I knew I had to tell him or move out ‘cause having him so close and not being able to hold him was just _killin’_ me.” Dean looked down at the table and picked at his food with a very convincing expression of shy embarrassment on his face. “I was so scared, I really thought for a minute there he was gonna say no,” Dean flicked his gaze up to meet Cas’ and his mouth went dry at the adoration in his eyes; Dean was quite the performer. “But he didn’t, and, well, that’s that,” Dean leaned over and kissed the corner of Cas’ mouth chastely before pulling away with a self-conscious cough and fixating on his food again.

“Awwww,” Anna and Muriel chorused, their eyes watery at the show of affection. 

Cas realised he should probably reciprocate in some way and quickly reached over to take Dean’s hand, lacing their fingers together and staring intently at him. He _must_ ask Dean to teach him how to do that adoring look but he settled for quiet focus instead and hoped it had the same effect. 

From the looks his mother and father exchanged he hoped he was right, and the five of them settled into less intense conversation topics for the rest of the meal, much to Cas’ relief. They talked about how Dean, Cas and Muriel were getting on at school, what films they liked (“can you believe Cas still hasn’t seen Thor? I try to educate him, I really try but he just _reads_ while we watch movies, how messed up is that?” Dean complained to Muriel, who gave him a sympathetic look) and how proud they all were of Gabriel’s graduation. Anna waxed lyrical about her party plans and Chuck talked about the latest instalment in his novel series and how he thought it was going to be the best one yet. By the time they finished dessert Cas and Dean were flagging again, their long journey taking its toll on the young men. Anna ushered them up to their room with promises that it was okay they didn’t help with clean up and that they’d have plenty to do before the party and they should get a good long sleep. Cas was too tired to argue with her and grabbed Dean’s hand before he could protest further, tugging him upstairs. 

Dean threw himself onto the bed with a groan while Cas opened their suitcases and pulled out pajamas - ever the practical one - and threw Dean’s wash bag at him. Dean made half-hearted protests but levered himself up off the bed and stripped out of his clothes, throwing his nightwear on quickly and then following Cas down the hall to the bathroom where they brushed their teeth and washed their faces, then took it in turns using the toilet while the other waited outside. Cas looked longingly at the shower, knowing he would regret not taking one tonight, but he was just too exhausted to stand under the hot spray and a cold shower would only wake him up more. Finally, even though it was only 9pm, they fell into bed and pulled the covers up high. 

“Hey, Cas?” 

“What?”

“Thanks for letting me come along, your family are cool.” Dean rolled over so he was facing Cas, faint light from the curtains highlighting his shoulder and limning his hair in the glow of the streetlight outside the window.

“Thank _you_ for such a… convincing charade. You really do have to teach me your tricks, Master Yoda,” Cas smiled in the darkness, shifting to face Dean as well and knowing the Star Wars reference would please his friend.

“Well, y’know, I’ve had to play the doting boyfriend before for chicks,” Dean laughed softly, “it’s surprisingly easier with someone I can actually stand to be around. Pour on the longing looks, inappropriate touching whenever y’can get away with it and parents just eat it up.” 

“Telling them you asked me out was a stroke of genius, I hadn’t prepared a lie for that question,” Cas confessed.

“Yeah, I figured. Good thing I’m a natural born liar, right?” 

“I still don’t understand why you don’t go into politics, Dean, you could sell wool to sheep.”

“‘Cause politicians are slimy bastards, I just wanna write music and work on cars. I’d rather charm business outta people than charm people outta business,” he snorted and Cas couldn’t help but laugh.

“The big test is going to be convincing Gabriel. He knows you better than anyone else in the family and it’s going to be hard work to make him believe you’ve suddenly flipped sides.” Cas was a little apprehensive at the thought of seeing his brother the following week but, given his performance today, he was starting to feel more confident that Dean would be able to pull this off.

“Just you wait,” Dean replied sleepily, “no fear.” He thumped Cas gently in the shoulder and made a quiet exploding noise with his mouth - his sleepy version of a fistbump, Cas assumed - before yawning widely and turning onto his back again. “Night, Cas.”

“Goodnight, Dean.” 

Within minutes they were asleep, curled together tightly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely hope you enjoyed! Do let me know what you think, if you have a favourite scene or want to throw out theories for future chapters, or just want to tell me how you feel, anything really! I love all comments and I try to reply to every one~ 
> 
> (eventually. I am a piece of shit and often forget for weeks... but I get there!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's summer vacation without a trip to the beach? And a visit from some of Cas' old high school buddies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws chapter at you all and flees*
> 
> Fuck I wrote this so long ago, I hope the continuity isn't terrible. I _really_ love this chapter though, I hope you guys enjoy it. :D
> 
> Warnings for: 
> 
> Violence (not graphic)  
> Homophobia  
> Homophobic slurs

Dean woke with his nose again pressed into the short hairs at the back of Castiel’s neck, shallow breaths drawing in the scent of his sweat mingling with his deodorant and the citrus fragrance of Anna’s chosen fabric softener. One thing he had to admit was awesome about this whole deal was that not only would he have a great excuse to snuggle every night, but it would actually be _expected_ of them. He knew Cas’ brother Gabriel a bit and he was well aware that Gabe wouldn’t hesitate to throw open the bedroom door to try and catch them out… or up to something. Naturally for safety’s sake he should make sure to cuddle up to Cas every night, just in case, and until Gabe arrived they should definitely practice at that, so they’re both used to it by the time he starts his hijinks. He couldn’t help but snicker into the back of Cas’ neck at that thought and Cas shifted, mumbling sleepily. As much as he resisted it, Dean knew the morning was about to begin and pulled his hand away from where it was splayed against his best friend’s chest, effectively pinning them together while they slept, and rolled onto his back so Cas could get up. 

Once he was showered and dressed Cas all-but pulled Dean out of bed and packed him off to his own morning routine with only minimal complaints; Dean was finally convinced moving was a good idea when Cas opened the door and let the smells of buttermilk pancakes and bacon waft into the room. With a loud rumble from his stomach he padded down to the bathroom to take a quick shower and dress for the day. 

Anna made sure Dean and Cas got extra helpings of breakfast, knowing her son’s favorite meals well and correctly guessing that Dean inhaled food like it would get up and walk off his plate if he didn’t consume it quickly enough, while Muriel joked that Dean would need to be rolled out of the house. Cas laughed into his coffee and Dean threw him a mock-hurt look.

“Cas, I’m hurt. Wounded, even,” he said theatrically, holding his hand over his heart.

“Thanks, Snagglepuss,” Cas shot back, a running gag in their home that nobody really understood, and the two boys fell about laughing. Dean snagged a pancake from Cas’ plate in revenge and Cas retaliated by switching his unsweetened coffee with Dean’s heavily doctored drink. Dean choked as he sipped the bitter liquid and couldn’t suppress the smile as Cas laughed at him again before apologising and returning his ‘vile’ coffee. 

“Dean hasn’t been to a beach in Miami yet, has he Cas?” Muriel asked suddenly, a streak of syrup on her cheek and her eyes bright with eagerness.

“Dean hasn’t been to Miami before,” Dean replied, throwing a napkin at her and rubbing his own face with a finger to show her where the mark was, “and you can talk to him directly,” he winked. Muriel stuck her tongue out at him and scrubbed at her face before returning to her breakfast and devouring another pancake in a few swift bites. 

“We should all go,” Anna chirped from the doorway bearing another large stack for them to help themselves to, “Lord knows I need a rest from party planning and it would be fun!” 

 

To save them all trying to squash into the Milton’s family vehicle, since they’d downgraded from their minivan to a sleek SUV when their youngest son moved away to college, Dean offered to take him and Cas to the beach in the Impala. Cas complained the entire way about the heat and the leather seats and the lack of decent music, but it was good-natured and standard ribbing that Dean was used to so he let it slide. His excitement over getting to go to the beach was stronger than his willingness to squabble with Cas over trivial things and so he just laughed at his friend and turned his Zeppelin tape up louder. 

They trawled the parking lot for a few minutes after Castiel’s parents pulled into a space, Dean wanting to find somewhere more sheltered from the salty sea breeze that he was afraid would work its way under the Impala’s impressive paint job. Cas tolerated the first two laps of the lot in favor of finding a space with some shade so the car wouldn’t be so ridiculously hot when they got back into it later, but on the third he began to grumble. 

“Dean, if you didn’t want your car to rust we should have just come with my parents,” he huffed, pushing his sweat-damp hair back from his face. 

“Fine, fine, look here’s okay I’ll just park her here. But you’re paying for the damage if her paint flakes,” Dean pulled his tongue out at Cas and swung the Impala into an open spot with practiced ease. 

As they approached Cas’ family on the beach, Dean slipped his hand into Cas’, lacing their fingers together with a cheeky wink and Cas smiled slightly. Dean knew it was hard for Cas adjust to their charade and was trying to make it as easy as he could for his friend but he made a mental note to actually take time to sit and _talk_ to him about it now they were actually here. Although they’d discussed it a lot in the week leading up to their arrival, in the car on their drive over, and had set out a lot of clear boundaries, that was wholly different to actually being here and doing what they’d only talked about. The last thing Dean wanted was to make his friend uncomfortable, especially since the whole act was intended to help Cas, not harm him. And he wasn’t sure what he’d do if this somehow irreparably damaged their friendship. He squeezed Cas’ hand gently in what he hoped was a reassuring way and Cas shot him a grateful look.

To Dean’s delight Anna and Chuck had already set their spot up nicely with towels and huge umbrellas stuck deep into the sand so all the two boys needed to do was flop down onto their towels and apply sunscreen. 

“Want me to do your back?” Dean teased Cas, trickling the cool cream down Castiel’s neck as his friend gave him a blank look.

“Well it won’t do itself,” Cas teased back and Dean laughed, glad to see Cas finally starting to loosen up. He was starting to slip back into the easy familiarity they had at home, a comfort zone they shared and understood instinctively and that eased some of Dean’s anxiety about this act. Thankfully it seemed most of what had made Cas so tense was down to his family’s reaction to Dean rather than Dean himself. 

Anna pulled out a sketchbook and began to draw, pulling the pad close to her chest and glaring only half-jokingly whenever anyone tried to peer at what she was working on, and the boys settled down on the sand to bask in the sun. It didn’t take long for Dean to become restless, however, and after the third time he buried Cas’ feet in the sand and flicked condensation from his soda on Muriel’s bathing suit the two siblings insisted it was time to play catch in the surf - anything to save them from the constant attacks of childish mischief from a man in his early twenties. They took a ball and some bats out to play with and that distracted them for a while but it soon became clear that Dean was more interested in dunking Cas in the water and splashing around than playing serious games. Cas, for his part, chased Dean through the surf, bouncing the ball off the back of his head and flinging strings of seaweed at him wherever possible. 

Cas even surprised Dean by lifting him bodily over his head and tossing him into the water as if he were nothing more than a piece of driftwood then fled with a scattering of sand at his toes as Dean hauled himself out of the water and gave chase. Both boys narrowly avoided colliding with other beachgoers several times until finally Dean tripped over a pretty brunette and almost landed in her lap. With a quick apology and a grin he leapt up and ran back to Cas, laughing all the way. Muriel laughed too, especially at the way the girl pouted when Dean threw his arms around Cas’ shoulders to drag him back down into the water. 

Finally, the three of them were tired of fooling around and returned to the shade of Chuck’s umbrella for sandwiches and soda before reapplying their sun lotion and lying down for a nap in the sun. It escaped nobody’s notice that as soon as they were settled, Dean reached out to Cas and the dark haired boy smiled as their fingers laced together in the sand. 

 

When it came time to pack up and leave Dean and Cas helped his family pack the beach stuff into the car and waved as they pulled out of the lot before heading back to the Impala. Dean took Cas’ hand as they walked more from mischief than habit and though Cas rolled his eyes he didn’t pull away. 

“Hey, _fags,_ ” a harsh voice called and they turned, Castiel frowning at the familiar accent.

“Alastair,” he acknowledged the boy as he approached with two lackeys at his side. Dean heard movement behind them and risked a quick glance, noticing they were now flanked by two more surly looking guys around their age. The Impala was just beyond them and he mentally kicked himself for taking so long to get back. If they were just a little closer he might be able to grab the tire iron out of the trunk if it came to violence, but as it was he could only be glad there would be no damage to his beloved car instead.

“Castiel, thought you’d run off to college to escape,” Alastair purred, his voice like silk, “never expected you to bring your pretty-boy to our beach. You _know_ how we feel about your kind of people.” 

“I went to college to educate myself, something I’ve been strongly recommending you do for years, Alastair,” Cas shot back, never taking his gaze from the waif-like boy in front of him. 

“Still don’t know when to keep your mouth shut, I see. Well, Castiel, I think it’s time we teach you a lesson about what happens to dirty little cockmunchers at _our_ beach,” Alastair snapped his fingers and the other boys were on them in a flash. 

Dean felt arms curl around his neck and pull him back, forcing him to let go of Cas’ hand as the two guys behind him laid into him. He thrust his head back and was rewarded with a sickening crunch and a strangled cry from his captor, as well as the satisfying drip of something hot and wet down his back. Good, his nose was broken, that should keep him busy for a while. The second guy tackled him inexpertly to the ground and Dean grit his teeth against the pain as he felt the asphalt graze his skin and rub gravel into the wounds; that was going to smart later. Still, he was grateful the kid didn’t know him well enough to know what a stupid move it was trying to get him on the ground and Dean used all the wrestling skills he’d learned in high school to flip and pin the guy to the ground, kneeling on his back and holding his wrists up tightly until he could almost feel the boy’s shoulders creak. 

Cas easily dodged the first punch and lashed out with a sharp blow to the side of his attacker’s head, clapping hard on the boy’s ear and making him cry out in pain. Dean watched as he sidestepped and brought his knee up into the boy’s stomach, quickly and effectively neutralising him. The second boy lunged forward and caught Cas a blow to the face, grazing his cheek and making a bruise bloom almost immediately. The blue-eyed boy quickly recovered and caught his wrist on the second swing, squeezing tightly with a look of dispassionate boredom before somehow flipping him to the ground in a movement so fast Dean had a hard time following it. The boy hit the ground and lay there groaning beside his companion while Castiel turned his attention to Alastair - who was gone. 

“Your buddy’s gone, I’ma let you up now okay?” Dean said to the guy he was kneeling on and he mumbled something that sounded like yes so Dean rose and quickly trotted over to Cas, who was still looking down at the two guys he’d flattened intently.

“Damn, Cas that was _amazing_ , I knew you were good in a fight but seriously,” he clapped Cas on the shoulder and huffed a laugh, wincing at the pain in his ribs. 

It was all over quickly and the four injured attackers fled now they didn’t have Alastair to back them up. Dean swiped a thumb over Cas’ cut cheek making him hiss and pull away at the pain before leading him over to the Impala and opening the trunk. Inside he kept a duffle bag with some old clothes - mostly for if he needed to work on the car at short notice - and he pulled these out, passing a t-shirt to Cas and pulling one over his head.

“Dean, you’re hurt!” Cas exclaimed as he saw the extent of the gravel rash on his back and elbows, Cas’ eyes traveling down to see he had similar injuries on his legs and knees. 

“We’re both hurt, let’s just get back,” Dean replied sharply, pain making him eager to find somewhere with a decent first aid kit, or at least a few fingers of whiskey to numb the pain. 

“Right.”

The drive back was slow with Dean hissing every time they went over a bump that made his t-shirt rub gravel deeper into his wounds and by the time they had finally pulled in to the driveway at Cas’ family home there was a large blood stain on the leather seat. Dean got out another t-shirt and wiped the worst of it off before he would even consider Cas’ pleas to come into the house and let him clean him up; Baby hadn’t done anything to deserve getting messed up and he wasn’t going to leave her there to get dried blood all over her upholstery. 

“Oh my goodness!” Anna exclaimed as they walked into the house, Dean shifting uncomfortably as his blood-soaked shirt stuck to his skin, “what on earth happened to you two?” 

“We got jumped by some homophobes,” Castiel grumbled, quickly pulling out the first aid kit and turning to leave the room. “I’m going to clean his wounds upstairs in the bathroom, he got scraped up quite badly.” 

They didn’t give Anna any time to argue or comment and soon they were in the bathroom with Dean sitting shirtless on the toilet seat while Cas soaked cloths in some warm water that smelled like antiseptic. 

“I’m sorry,” Cas said quietly after a few minutes. Dean was being extraordinarily brave and hardly even winced as Cas washed him clean and picked tiny pieces of gravel from the grazes with some tweezers he found in the cabinet. 

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt that much,” Dean replied, shifting uncomfortably.

“I mean,” Cas sighed and stopped for a moment. Dean looked up at him and saw a flash of pain cross his face. “You wouldn’t have been injured if you weren’t doing this pretence for me, and I’m sorry that I went to school with such homophobic bastards like Alastair. I suppose we should be grateful Crowley wasn’t in attendance too, the two of them together are _hell_.” He sighed and resumed his gentle work. 

“Aw Cas, you don’t need to apologize to me,” Dean grumbled, “it’s not your fault they’re repressed closet-case assholes. They’re just jealous cause I’m so fine,” he winked up at his friend and Cas rolled his eyes.

“Even still.”

“No, just don’t worry about it. Not your fault. Just finish up so I can fix your face already, you look like shit.” 

 

Dinner was a subdued affair at first, Anna too horrified by what had happened to her son and his boyfriend to contemplate small talk, but once Dean started to recount the fight animatedly the atmosphere began to clear up and even she found it impossible to maintain her bad mood in the face of Dean’s incorrigible cheer.

“You shoulda seen your brother Muriel, it was like something out of an action movie! I mean, I know he’s won awards and stuff for his martial arts but I never expected him to actually be any good, ouch!” Dean winced as Cas jabbed him in the ribs with a finger, but his blue eyes twinkled with merriment so Dean took that as his cue to continue. “Anyway, as I was saying, he only got that one tiny hit and the other guys were rolling around on the floor crying for their mamas, it was awesome!”

“Well they should know better than to attack a State Champion’s boyfriend,” Cas teased, lowering his eyes flirtatiously at Dean, “they dared lay a finger on you they’re lucky I didn’t lose my temper.” Cas looked at Dean with such sincerity, such fondness, that at that moment he felt his heart skip. He knew there was nothing between them, but he was still human dammit and hearing someone declare such protectiveness over him was a hard feeling to ignore. He smiled and leaned forward, kissing Cas on the lips in a rare display of affection that had Muriel gagging. 

“If I’m gonna get beaten up for being someone’s boyfriend I’m glad I’m yours,” Dean mumbled as he pulled away, a light blush across his nose as he suddenly became very interested in his dinner. 

After dinner they cleared the table and began a game of Scrabble, Castiel quickly gaining the lead but Dean surprising everyone - including himself - by keeping close behind, but before long Dean began to fidget as the pain from his injuries began to irritate him. Soon they said goodnight and returned to the privacy of Cas’ room where Dean could lie on his front with his shirt off and relax for the first time since they’d gotten back.

“I _am_ sorry, Dean,” Cas said quietly from his seat at the desk, allowing Dean to spread out on the bed with a book since it was still too early for them to go to sleep. 

“I told you, don’t worry about it.”

“But,” Cas sounded worried and Dean sat up so he could turn and look at his friend.

“No, no buts, no sorry, it’s fine. Stop worrying! You’re acting like this is the first time I’ve been beaten up over something stupid, well it’s not so stop stressing out. I don’t blame you and I’m not gonna stop this whole thing cause of one little fight! Not to mention how shitty would that look to your family if I ran home over some stupid dicks at the beach. You don’t need to feel guilty and you don’t need to apologize. Cas, you’re my best friend okay? Getting beat up together is just something best buddies do. And I’m sure plenty more people’ll want to do it in our lives so don’t go doing their job for them and beating yourself up about it too, okay?” 

Dean glared hard at Castiel and Cas glared back with equal intensity, bristling with annoyance. He knew Dean was right, of course, but that didn’t change the feeling of guilt that gnawed away inside him. Eventually Cas huffed angrily and broke the eye contact, looking down to the floor. 

“Alright then,” Dean nodded and lay back down on the bed, returning to his book. 

Eventually Cas crawled in next to him and pulled the covers up to his chin, watching Dean intently as he put the book down and turned on to his side. His shoulders had been spared the worst of the injuries and he wasn’t going to let the niggling sting get in the way of cuddle time. Before Cas could turn away, though, Dean leaned forward and kissed him softly on the cheek, just below the dark bruise left by the thug in the parking lot. 

“What was that for?” Cas frowned, confused at the needless affection.

“Thanks for saving my ass, Cas,” Dean mumbled and opened his arms for Cas to shuffle into them. Cas obliged, turning over and wriggling back until Dean’s arm was tucked in its usual spot on his waist.

“Goodnight, Dean,” he murmured.

“‘Night Cas,” Dean mumbled back, breath hot against the nape of his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, all the chapters aren't gonna end the same way, I didn't even notice I'd done that till I was highlighting it to post *snort*
> 
> I am absolutely loving all your comments/theories/squee - keep it coming! It gives me life :D I'm hoping to get chapter 4 finished this weekend (it's pissing it down so no need to go anywhere) which means I'll be on schedule to post ch3 next weekend. Woo! \o/


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna gets protective over her boys, and the brothers arrive for summer vacation~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Freaking. Love. this chapter. Literally nothing of real interest happens, hence how short it is, but gosh darn it I just love it anyway. Hope you all enjoy! 
> 
> (p.s. sorry for being behind with answering comments, it's been a very busy week! I'll try to keep on top of it going forward~ <3)

The rest of the week was spent helping with party planning at Anna’s insistence, but Cas knew she was just afraid to let them leave the house again after the fight at the beach. Each morning and afternoon Dean sat on one of their kitchen chairs with his chin resting on the back and his shirt neatly folded on the table while Cas cleaned his scrapes and replaced the dressings. The wounds weren’t too severe but the combination of the gravel, sand and other unsanitary things in the parking lot meant Cas was taking no chances with his pretend boyfriend’s health. Anna offered to help the first morning they came down, Dean wincing as he dragged his t-shirt up and over his head and flopped into the seat Cas pointed to, but after Cas batted her hands away and glared at her for what felt like a full minute she relinquished the chore to her youngest son and fetched him the first aid kit. 

Most of the day after breakfast was spent writing lists under Anna’s watchful eye, putting together decorations, under Anna’s watchful eye, and mixing food that would keep until the party - under Anna’s watchful eye. On the third day Cas threw up his hands in exasperation and rounded on his hovering mother. 

“Mom! We’re twenty-one years old, we can look after ourselves and we really can be trusted with some party stuff. But most of all we need to be allowed out of the house!” 

Without waiting for her to reply he grabbed Dean’s wrist and yanked him from the room, to his sister’s great amusement, and moments later the Milton family heard the sound of the front door slamming shut with a bang. 

“Well you should know better than to try and cage Castiel, Anna,” Chuck laughed at his wife as she gaped at the kitchen doorway, “he was always rebellious. Let him take Dean out, they can handle themselves.”

“But-“ she began, a fearful look crossing her face but she was silenced when Chuck kissed her gently. 

“They’ll be fine, now don’t you have flowers to order?” 

 

Cas dragged Dean out of the house and then stopped in front of the Impala, practically throwing himself at the side of the classic car and crossing his arms in annoyance. Dean looked amused and Cas frowned in annoyance at him.

“It’s not funny, Dean,” he grumbled but that only made Dean laugh aloud.

“It’s a little bit funny, Cas,” he chuckled, “you remind me of Sam when we were kids.” 

“Glad you find me so amusing.” He looked away across the street and huffed loudly.

Dean stepped closer and boxed him in with his arms leaning casually on the roof of the car, relaxing his weight so he was pressed flush against Cas’ body. Cas looked back in surprise at the sudden contact and his cheeks tinged pink. Dean’s weight was becoming familiar to him now, more than it had at home in their apartment - and it surprised him to think of their college accommodation as _home_ more than the house he grew up in for almost eighteen years - and he was surprised to find it actually did calm him down quite quickly. 

“What are you doing, Dean? Nobody’s watching, you don’t have to pretend right now.” Dean rolled his eyes and Cas mirrored the action, exasperated.

“Don’t copy me, you dick,” Dean teased but Cas just fixed him with one of his least-impressed stares. “Look, I get you’re mad about being cooped up but c’mon man that was the most hilariously teenage thing I’ve ever seen you do. And just cause nobody’s watching right now doesn’t mean they won’t be so shut up and deal with it. Don’t tell me I ain’t pretty enough for you,” he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and earned himself another eye roll. Cas opened his mouth to argue but Dean’s phone began to ring and he stepped away to answer it with a cheeky wink. 

“What’s up, Sammy?” 

_“Dean, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year old. I’m starting college next year, don’t call me that.”_ Sam was as disgruntled as ever over the nickname and Dean pulled a face at Cas that he knew meant Sam was complaining. _“I was just wondering what you were doing for summer vacation. Me and Ruby were thinking of going somewhere and wondered if you and Cas wanted to come with?”_

Cas watched Dean carefully as his emotions flickered across his face. He didn’t like Ruby one bit, she had been a major troublemaker in school when they were younger and had even been to juvie several times for misdemeanors ranging from petty theft to arson. When she returned the last time with a new hair colour and claiming she was a changed person, Dean had snorted and warned Sam to stay away from her. But Sam was more forgiving than his older brother and soon befriended the wayward girl, to Dean’s great annoyance, and after Dean had been living with Cas a few months Sam finally confessed he was now dating the ‘demon chick’ his brother so despised. He swore up and down she’d changed for the better, but Dean had yet to see any evidence of it. Not that Sam hadn’t been _trying_ , but Dean was stubborn and Cas knew it well. 

“Actually, I’m at Cas’ parents place,” Dean said, trying for nonchalant, and Cas suddenly had an idea. Patting Dean on the arm and mouthing at him to stay put and talk to his brother he trotted back up to the house and slipped inside. 

“Hey, mom?” Cas sidled into the kitchen, hoping his outburst hadn’t pissed his parents off. 

“Yes, honey?” Anna looked up from the florist’s brochure and smiled warmly at him.

“Do you think we’d have room to put up Dean’s brother and his girlfriend for a little while? They’re kind of stuck at home for the summer and, well, they’re seventeen and restless. I thought, if we had the space, they might enjoy a little vacation in Miami.”

“Of course, Castiel, Dean’s family are family too. We have plenty of room, you know Michael’s not going to be using his and Sam’s girlfriend can share with Muriel.” Anna got up and hugged him tightly. “And I’m sorry for smothering you, I’m just worried. Dean’s such a lovely boy I don’t want anything to jeopardize your relationship,” she added softly.

Cas had a flash of guilt at deceiving his mother, especially when she seemed to genuinely like Dean so much, but he knew it was necessary to stop her incessant nagging about his love life, or lack thereof, and nobody was getting hurt. “It’s fine, he’s not gonna break up with me over a little fight. He’d miss our apartment too much, for one,” he rumbled with a quiet laugh and Anne pulled back, looking him in the eyes and giving him a smile that reminded him of his childhood.

“You’re right, anyone with eyes can see he adores you. Now go tell him his brother can come stay,” she kissed his forehead and then turned him and gave him a little shove before settling back at the table to frown over her brochure some more.

Cas wasted no time in heading back out to where Dean was leaning casually against his car, talking cheerily away to Sam. 

“And then, no kidding Sammy, Cas _catches the guy’s fist_ and flips him to the ground. It was _awesome_ , dude.” 

“Does Sam understand the situation?” Cas asked with his usual lack of preamble. Dean nodded, obviously listening to something Sam was saying on the other end of the phone. “Good because my mother has invited him and Ruby to stay with us for summer vacation.”

“ _You’re KIDDING!”_ Sam yelled through the cellphone and Dean held it away from his ear with a wince. 

“What the hell, Cas?” he hissed, covering the mouthpiece, “I don’t want that demon bitch hanging around all summer.”

“Too late, they’re invited and mom’s expecting them.”

“I hate you so much,” Dean growled, putting the phone back to his ear in time to catch the last of Sam’s excited reply.

“ _-ean you have no idea how awesome this is, we’re gonna have so much fun and Ruby’ll be thrilled. Trust me, you really will love her, Dean, she’s not at all like you remember. Thank you so much, and your secret’s safe with us. I’m gonna go pack and book flights and stuff, we’ll be there as soon as possible. Talk to you later Dean, bye!”_

Sam hung up before Dean could object and he glared angrily at his friend. Cas simply smirked back, knowing Dean would love having his brother around even if it meant having to tolerate his girlfriend. 

“You love me,” he grinned, “and you want Sam here more than you hate Ruby so shut up.”

“You wish,” Dean sniped back but pulled Cas into a hug anyway, “but yeah, thanks Cas.” 

“Of course, this makes us even,” Cas pulled away with a playful tone in his voice.

“Like hell it does! If you hadn’t invited Ruby, maybe, but you did so it doesn’t.” 

They squabbled all the way back into the house and upstairs to begin cleaning out Castiel’s older brother’s room for Sam to stay in. It was pretty cluttered and had been used as a sort of makeshift storage room for years so by the time dinner rolled around they were dusty, sweaty and starving. Dean talked about Sam non-stop for the rest of the evening and Cas smiled fondly at his friend as he talked his way through their chore, then dinner. There was little Dean loved more than a chance to talk about his little brother so Cas listened patiently even though he’d heard most of the stories dozens of times already; he’d always enjoyed hearing the way Dean spoke about Sam like he was something extra special, the genius little brother with the heart of gold who rescued stray dogs. Anna watched with a happy smile on her lips, pleased the arrangement was bringing the newest member of her family so much joy.

 

Sam arrived with Ruby on his heels only two days later and Dean reluctantly picked them up from the airport at Cas’ insistence. 

“I want to have a chance to brief them on our situation in person before they meet my parents, especially since you don’t trust Ruby. If you did I wouldn’t be so concerned but you don’t so I want to make sure they understand completely the conditions of their visit,” Cas said solemnly as they drove over to the terminal.

It didn’t take long to locate Sam, he was a veritable giant among Lilliputians and his ever-growing hair was getting fluffier by the second in the Florida heat. By his side stood a pretty dark-haired girl at least a foot shorter than him that Cas assumed was Ruby - since Dean had forbidden her from setting foot in their apartment. Cas wasn’t sure why Dean hated her so much, she looked normal enough and she was gazing up at Sam with such an unashamed look of absolute devotion he immediately liked her. Regardless of her past she appeared to care deeply for Sam, and as far as Cas was concerned that was what really mattered. Before they knew it Sam was folding his enormous body into the back seat with Ruby tucked in beside him and their luggage in the trunk. 

“How was your journey in the flying tube of death, Samsquatch? I see you’ve grown another foot in both height and hair, man you gotta get that shit cut before something starts nesting in it,” Dean teased his brother, barely acknowledging Ruby past a nod in the rear view. 

“The flying tube of death was the worst thing ever,” she grumbled, looking genuinely unhappy for the first time since Cas had caught sight of her, “and Sam says we can’t drive home which means I get to risk my life _again_.” 

“Ruby, statistically-“ Sam began, clearly over having to explain this to his girlfriend as well as his brother.

“Don’t give me that statistics crap, Sammy,” Dean cut in, “she’s right. It’s an accident waiting to happen and if you cared for her at all you’d have driven,” he glared at his brother in the rearview and Cas thought he saw a spark of something close to fondness for Ruby, too. At the least Dean recognised he’d found a kindred spirit in their mutual hatred of airplanes, anyway.

With a gentle clearing of his throat, Cas decided he should let Dean focus on driving and brief their guests on their predicament.

“I know Dean’s explained the… boyfriend situation to you, but I just wanted to make sure it was totally clear - for both of you - how important it is that nothing is given away while you’re staying with my family.” He said the words carefully as if afraid to offend them but he held Sam’s gaze in the mirror as he spoke, wordlessly adding emphasis to the sentence. 

“You and Dean have been humping like bunnies for months, we don’t have the details and we don’t _want_ the details because the thought of my brother’s sex life gives me the heebie jeebies. We’re happy for you, of course, but we don’t know much if Gabriel or some other relative gets nosy. We owe you our summer vacation, Cas, we’re not gonna mess this up for you so _relax_.” Sam pulled Ruby closer to him and she nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, what Sam said. We’re not gonna blow your cover and we might even be able to draw attention away from you guys enough to give you a break from everything,” she pulled away from Sam and fanned herself. “Dean, this car is gorgeous and all, but can we at least crack a window or something?”

“I tried to suggest he install air conditioning but he doesn’t agree it’s a good idea,” Cas said sympathetically, winding down his window to let the breeze fill the car with only slightly cooler air, but Ruby turned her face into the flow and sighed happily. 

“You just don’t deface a beauty like this with modern shit!” Dean sounded angry but Cas could see his mouth twitching with amusement so he wasn’t worried. 

“I disagree, air conditioning is an absolute necessity since you insist on driving everywhere and - perhaps an MP3 player wouldn’t go amiss?” Cas teased, knowing that Sam had sent Dean into a three day sulk the last time he’d suggested the modernisation of the Impala’s stereo. Dean looked at him in abject horror then leaned forward, caressing the leather bound steering wheel and crooning softly.

“Don’t worry baby, I won’t let them do anything to you, you’re perfect just the way you are baby, don’t listen to those heathens,” he reassured the vehicle, and didn’t let up on his platitudes until he was pulling in to the Milton’s driveway, much to the amusement of the three passengers. 

 

“Thank you for allowing us to stay, Mrs Milton,” Ruby said demurely as they walked into the kitchen on Cas’ heels to meet his family. Anna practically leapt up from the kitchen table, knocking the brochure she was poring over to the floor as she pulled Ruby into a warm, enveloping hug. 

“Nonsense, dear, the pleasure’s ours! We love having Dean here, he’s really settled into part of our family, and that makes his family our family too so we’re happy to have you here, both of you,” she looked up at Sam and caught him in a hug mostly somewhere around his middle. “Are you both tired and hungry? Yes? Castiel and Muriel will take your things upstairs while I fix you a snack,” Anna gave Cas a pointed look and he sighed before trotting out of the room to do as he was told. 

Sam looked across at Dean as Anna whirled away into the kitchen and raised an eyebrow quizzically. ‘ _Family?’_ He mouthed the word and Dean shrugged with a smug grin. ‘ _I’m very convincing.’_ Dean mouthed back and Sam’s other eyebrow joined the first in surprise. 

“I’m gonna go help Cas, Anna, can you take care of my big little brother for a bit?” Dean said smoothly. Anna had insisted he call her and Chuck by their first names and Dean had taken to it easily, his familiarity with Cas’ family only serving to further their act.

“Of course, sweetheart, take your time… but not too much, you hear?” Anna turned back and gave him a knowing look, which Dean returned with a cheeky grin and dashed from the room.

“ _Sweetheart?_ Oh my god Rubes, we’re in _so_ much trouble,” Sam mumbled quietly, leaning down to her ear and pulling her into a hug. 

 

Muriel was thrilled to be getting a room mate for the summer, only a year younger than Ruby she chattered happily away and found that they had a surprising amount in common. Dean pretended not to listen when Ruby was talking as best he could, although he didn’t want to seem rude over dinner, but after a while Sam and Cas noticed him engaging her more and more as she discussed things with Muriel. Cas shared a look with Sam over the top of Dean’s head while he was enthralled by a particularly colorful anecdote and they grinned knowingly at each other. It wouldn’t take long for Dean to realise Ruby wasn’t so bad after all, Cas thought. 

The girl was bluntly honest about herself, a trait she’d learned in juvie that had just seemed to stick, and told the Miltons straight up that she was a former delinquent.

“Don’t worry, though,” she said, sipping water between bites of her dinner, “I’m not gonna steal from you or do anything bad at all. You’ve been really good to let Sam and me come and stay here and I wouldn’t wanna ruin anything for him even if I _wasn’t_ completely reformed. Which I am.” Ruby took another bite of her food, chewing it slowly to give herself a few moments to think. 

“It’s okay, Ruby, you don’t have to justify yourself to us,” Chuck said gently. “I think you’re charming,” Dean snorted but managed at the last second to disguise it as a choke and Cas patted him on the back sympathetically, maybe a little harder than necessary. “And I’d be really surprised if you managed to find something worthwhile in this house anyway,” he chuckled. 

Ruby’s eyes watered a little at the genuine feeling in his voice and she nodded, grateful they were willing to give her a chance. Muriel interrupted the awkward moment by asking Ruby to tell her about the recycling scheme she’d set up at her high school, begging for ideas to help her pitch it to her own school. They were about to dig in to a mouth-watering looking pie, Anna had been testing recipes on them all week after learning it was Dean’s favorite dessert, when the front door opened with a bang.

“I’m _hooooooome!_ ” a singsong voice bellowed through the hall. 

“ _Gabriel!_ ” Muriel shrieked in excitement and barrelled through to the hallway to fly into her brother’s arms. 

She returned moments later, tugging the blond boy by the hand and leading him to her seat at the table before pulling up a stool beside him. He gave her a look of bemused indulgence while Anna served him a piece of pie and then looked around at the throng of people, most of whom he hadn’t expected. 

“Wow, the gang’s all here huh? Didn’t expect to see you, Deano - much less your kid brother. What’s up Sammy?” Gabriel beamed around at the group. 

“Well of course Dean’s here,” Anna said fondly, “you know he and Cas are together now. I told you on the phone, Gabriel, don’t tease.” 

“Yeah,” Gabriel didn’t look convinced, “but I find it hard to believe mister Casa Erotica here just magically switched teams all of a sudden. So what is it, Dean? Pretending to be Cassie’s boyfriend to keep mom off his back?” 

Cas reddened, partly from embarrassment that Gabriel had so quickly worked out the situation and partly from rage at his complete and utter lack of tact and respect. Then his view of his brother was obscured as Dean pulled him in and kissed him. This wasn’t like the gentle, chaste kiss from a few days ago or the sloppy, drunken kisses they’d shared at parties, this was almost… _passionate_. Dean held the back of Cas’ neck gently and massaged his lips with his own as he carded his fingers through Cas’ hair. Instinctively Cas moved his hands to mirror Dean’s at the back of his neck and kissed him back. They broke apart a moment later and Cas reddened further at such a gratuitous display in front of his _parents_ but Dean just smirked. 

“Real enough for ya, Gabe?” His hand still rested on the back of Cas’ neck, softly stroking the small hairs there to soothe him out of his blush - though it wasn’t really helping all that much if Cas was honest. 

Gabriel just sat there with his jaw hanging open as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing and as soon as Sam got over a similar shock he couldn’t help but laugh at the expression on Cas’ older brother’s face. It was priceless. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been to Miami (in case that wasn't horrifically obvious) so please just suspend your disbelief since I'm working on CSI:Miami and movie knowledge, as well as Google and Wikipedia ;) Which isn't all that accurate!
> 
> Keep your amazing comments and theories coming, I'm absolutely loving seeing how you're all analysing the story and how it might go in the future! \o/ <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean takes Sam fishing for a little brotherly bonding time, while Cas takes Ruby, Muriel and Gabriel to the mall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for more homophobic language! 
> 
> But other than that, should be all good :) (let me know if I miss something though!)
> 
> Enjoy!

“I’m so glad you and Dean are here,” Anna’s voice sounded full of warmth and she looked at Cas like she was fit to burst with pride, “but really, when are you going to get around to organising the _wedding_ Castiel?” 

“W- _wedding_?!” Cas spluttered around his spoonful of oatmeal and turned to where Dean sat at his side, head pressed to the wood of the table as he laughed so hard tears streamed down his face. 

“Well of course,” Anna gave him an annoyed glare, like this was something she’d been nagging at him about for a while.

“Aw Anna, leave him alone,” Dean said, his voice full of mirth. He lifted his head and looked at Cas with eyes shining with unshed tears, “he’s shy. I’ve stuck around ten years now, I’m sure I can wait a few more,” he smiled warmly, lacing his fingers with Cas’ on the table. He leaned forward and pressed their lips together in a kiss that felt like something familiar, then drew away to gaze at him lovingly, his thumb tracing circles on Cas’ wrist.

Cas pulled back, his eyes widening in surprise and a little bit of horror. He quickly schooled his expression to squint at his best friend… something was _different_ about him. He looked older, more mature. The laughter lines around his eyes had deepened into creases that showed he must smile a lot and he seemed to have more freckles than before. Cas was amused to see a few flecks of gray starting to show in his hairline too and Dean stuck his tongue out at him when he realised where his gaze had drifted to. 

“Anyway, I don’t need any old bit of paper to prove I lov-“

 

Castiel woke with a cry, surging upward until he was sitting then folding himself in half to rest his head between his knees. His body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and he panted loudly, barely even noticing as Dean shifted beside him.

“Cas, you okay?” Dean’s voice was small, sleepy, but full of concern.

“I’m fine, just a bad dream,” Cas growled back, irrationally annoyed at Dean for showing up in his dream like that. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

“No!” Cas answered too quickly, too loudly, and he felt Dean shrink away from him physically, putting as much space between them as he could on the bed.

“Okay, jeez, sorry,” he mumbled. Cas felt him shift, dragging a hand over his face he guessed, and then turn over so his back was turned. “I’m gonna get a couple more hours, it’s still dark out.”

Cas watched as he burrowed his way back under the comforter until only his dark hair and eyes were visible and gave a little yawn. Huffing in frustration he lay back down and threw an arm over his eyes, willing away the vague memories of his dream. After he tossed and turned for a few minutes Dean finally sighed and heaved himself up on his elbow, pressing a hand to Cas' chest to still him from his shuffling.

"Dude, are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?" His voice was soft and only mildly annoyed. In fact, he sounded more concerned than irritated.

"It's nothing Dean, nothing," Cas grumbled.

"Alright, then go back to sleep," Dean mumbled, shuffling closer and curling his arm around Cas. He tucked his nose in under Cas' ear and he rolled his eyes as he felt a little kiss press to his skin. "It's three in the morning, just get s'more sleep."

Cas huffed again but settled in Dean's arms, surprised and more than a little irritated by just how comforting he found the contact. It wasn't long before he felt his eyelids begin to droop and his breathing soon evened out into the regular pattern of sleep. Dean smiled against his neck and nuzzled just a little bit closer, pleased that Cas had been able to settle.

When Dean slipped out of bed hours later Cas was still sleeping peacefully, his nightmare all but forgotten. Dean decided to leave him be and quietly went to shower and shave before their first full day with Sam and Ruby. He wasn't exactly sure how things were going to go, but he hoped he'd at least get to spend some time with Sam alone later on. Maybe he could ask Cas if he'd go show Ruby around the neighbourhood or something? Well, he'd think about that when the time came. Returning from his shower he quickly threw on some boxers and began to towel dry his hair  with one hand while rooting around in his duffel for a shirt with the other. Cas had suggested he put some of his clothes in his closet, but Dean couldn’t be bothered with that so far and nobody cared if his t-shirts were a bit rumpled. He’d hung his nice clothing to wear to the party up, though, but only so he wouldn’t have to iron it later - or so he said.

“GOOD MORNING!” A loud voice made him jump as the door slammed open and Gabriel bounded in, as awake at 8am as he had been last night, and Dean bit back a yelp at the sudden intrusion. Castiel did not.

“What the _fuck_ Gabriel!” Cas snarled, hurling a pillow at his brother’s head and barely missing him as he dodged it nimbly. 

“Yeah man, we could’ve been naked or whatever,” Dean jibed with an irritated tut. 

“ _You_ practically _are_ , Dean,” Cas reminded him and Dean looked down then shrugged. 

“Ain’t got anything he’s not seen before,” Dean waggled his eyebrows at Cas but stopped when Cas just glared back at him.

“Doesn’t mean I particularly want you prancing around in front of just anyone in your underclothes, asshole,” Cas sounded almost possessive and Gabriel gave a low whistle, holding up his hands defensively. 

“Wow, okay, I’m just gonna, yeah, sorry, um, I’ll just let you, yeah,” he backed out of the room and shut the door so quickly Dean barely even noticed he was gone before Cas’ face broke out in a wide grin and he flopped back down on the bed. 

“That worked beautifully, I thought,” Cas laughed and Dean stared at him before he began to laugh too. He picked up the pillow from where it had fallen when it hit the wall and threw it at Castiel so it dropped heavily on his face.

“You dick, even I was almost convinced,” he threw himself down over Cas’ legs, completely uncaring of the fact he was still wearing nothing more than his boxers and a towel around his shoulders, “nice work though.” 

“Gabriel responds better to conflict than demonstration,” Cas explained, his voice muffled by the pillow he hadn’t bothered to move from his face, “last night will have convinced him you’re dedicated to the act - this morning will have done more to convince him I’m genuinely pissed at you for being almost naked around my brother. Give you the cold shoulder for a few hours and that’ll do more than all the kisses in the world.” 

“Aw, nuts,” Dean teased, hauling himself back up off the bed to pull a plain t-shirt out of his bag and climb into it, tugging on his jeans afterwards. “I was hoping for an excuse to keep up the smooching,” he winked as Cas pushed the pillow away from his face to glare at him and Cas just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

“You’re infuriating.”

“I’m adorable, and you know it,” Dean stuck out his tongue. “Now you better go shower or you’ll miss breakfast.”

Dean was halfway through his oatmeal when Cas stalked into the room, making himself a bowl of cereal and leaning against the breakfast bar on the opposite side of the room to Dean. He dug his spoon into the bowl with a little more vigor than was really called for and Dean had to focus on his own breakfast in order to keep from laughing at his air of annoyance. Sam and Ruby wandered in moments later, followed closely by Muriel and Gabriel. 

“Morning myur-myur,” Dean teased, pushing a bowl towards her as she sat down, her face bleary with sleep. 

“Don’t call her that Dean,” Cas snipped, shovelling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth as if to cut off any further comments.

“If you’d watched Thor with him you’d know it’s a compliment,” Muriel said around a yawn, “a nickname based on Mjolnir is _cool_.” 

“What’s got your panties in a bunch, Cas?” Sam looked between his brother and Castiel worriedly, their sudden change since the previous night concerning him.

Cas gave a quiet snort and didn’t reply, glaring hard at his cereal as if it had personally wronged him. 

“Bro, I really didn’t mean to mess shit up for you,” Gabriel said tentatively, edging over to his brother slowly. 

“Shut up, Gabe,” Cas growled and fixed him with a glare of such intensity that Gabe actually did back off a few steps. 

“Cas…” Dean sounded exasperated and Cas looked up at him then rolled his eyes and heaved a loud sigh.

“Fine. Gabriel, don’t barge into our room like that. Dean, have a bit more modesty. Okay?” He raised an eyebrow as he stared at Dean and Dean gave him a small smile.

“Alright Cas, whatever you say. Okay Gabe?” 

“Sure, sure, whatever man. So, what’s the plan for today?” Gabriel hurriedly changed the subject as he sank down into a chair beside his sister and grabbed himself some breakfast.

There was a short lull in the conversation as they each considered what they wanted to do, the silence broken only by the sounds of spoons in bowls and crunching of cereal. 

“I know Dean is desperate to spend some time with Sam,” Cas said eventually, his voice careful, “so I thought I might take Ruby and Muriel to the mall to give them some time to catch up. I think it would be nice if you came with us too, Gabe,” he said with a pointed look at his brother.

The girls’ faces lit up at the prospect of a trip to the mall and Muriel immediately launched into a gushing review of all the best stores and where to go for lunch while Ruby listened raptly, chiming in from time to ask about things she’d be interested in getting or comparisons with stores in Lawrence. Dean looked up at Cas with an expression of such heartfelt gratitude that he had to look back down at his cereal, a little half-smile on his face at the joy on Dean’s. 

They finished their breakfast and cleared up as quickly as they could and before they knew it Cas was ushering his siblings and Ruby out of the front door.

“Taking the car, mom!” He called, snagging the keys from their hook by the door and letting it swing closed behind them.

“So,” Dean said, turning to Sam with a wide grin and his hands shoved deep into his pockets, “fishing?”

 

To Sam’s surprise, Dean had found some fishing rods in Cas’ parents shed when he was looking for something for Anna and they had given him permission to use them whenever he liked. He threw a couple of tackle boxes in the Impala’s trunk along with the rods, conveniently disassembled so they could fit, and they drove to the beach to cast off from the bridge. They chatted about school and exams amicably, joking together about this and that as they walked barefoot through the sand towards the place Chuck had mentioned was the best for fishing. 

“Wow, not even a _faithful_ faggot, does Castiel know you’re out here with another guy?” Alastair’s oily voice cut through their conversation like a knife and Dean rolled his eyes at the interruption.

“This the guy who attacked you, Dean?” Sam asked quietly, already well aware of the trouble Dean and Cas had run into on their first outing in Miami. 

“Fuck off, Alastair,” Dean snarled, rounding on the guy and trying not to think about the two goons he had to back him up. “And Sam’s my _brother_ you moron.” 

Sam looked between Dean and Alastair for a moment, noting how tense Dean was and how readily he was gearing up for another fight. With a sigh he put his tackle box and rod on the ground and then pulled off his t-shirt, dropping it on the sand beside him and crossing his arms across his chest. Dean noticed the attention slide quickly from him to his kid brother and turned to see what was going on. 

If Sammy was a chubby twelve-year-old then _Sam_ was a seventeen year old tower of pure _muscle_ , and Dean’s jaw hung open in surprise. Sam had obviously been working out since Dean had headed off to college and he couldn’t help but feel a little awed. 

“I might not have the Championship belt Cas has,” Sam said in a warning tone, “but I bet I can fuck you up just as well if you don’t scram.” 

Dean looked back at Alastair and was pleased to see his goons blanch at the sight of all six foot four of Sam and his trunk-like biceps. He noted that one still bore the telltale signs of his broken nose, and he hoped that and Sam’s threat was enough to discourage them. His gravel burn was still sore and he really didn’t fancy fighting when he was trying to catch up with his brother.

“Relax, boys,” Alastair purred, “just looking out for my old high school buddy, making sure his _boyfriend_ isn’t doing something he shouldn’t. You _aren’t_ doing something you shouldn’t, are you?” He made a tutting sound with his teeth and shook his head. “ _Really_ , with your _brother_? How… incestuous.” 

Dean fought the bile rising in his throat, as if he would _ever_ … He shook his head, refusing to let Alastair rile him.

“Fuck off, asshole, you’re just jealous Cas gets to ride this sweet ass while you’re still at home jacking off into a sock to thoughts of your mama,” Dean tried for flippant and then his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Or maybe it’s your _father_ you’re thinking of, they say bullies like to project. You’re having your big gay crisis and taking it out on us ‘cause you can’t think of any way to deal with your _feelings_ ,” Dean said the last word with a mocking air, his confidence growing with every jibe. 

They watched in satisfaction as Alastair’s eyes narrowed and his lips pressed into a thin, angry line. His nostrils flared but he said nothing more, turning away from them and stalking away angrily with his goons trotting obediently behind. 

“What a dick,” Dean grumbled then grinned up at Sam. “Nice play with the shirt, Samsquatch,” he teased, waiting for Sam to pick up his things again so they could start walking. 

“You weren’t kidding about him,” Sam sounded worried but Dean just shook his head and waved a hand flippantly.

“Nah, he’s just a closet case who’s liked to pick on Cas since high school, no biggie.” 

Sam fell into an uneasy silence, trailing after Dean as they made their way through the surf. 

“Dean,” he said once they were set up and Dean was baiting the hooks. Dean looked up at his tone and rolled his eyes, knowing Sam was going to start some kind of _chick flick_ talk. He looked back down at the hook, focussing on getting the slippery squid neatly arranged so it wouldn’t slip off at the first nibble.

“Dean, you know you’re not _really_ Cas’ boyfriend, don’t you?”

Dean tutted and looked up at Sam with a raised eyebrow. “Really Sam? Of course I know that, I’m not stupid. He needed a favor and this was easier than helping him school some poor schmuck from class. He’s my best friend, dude,” Dean sighed, “I’m not crushing on him or anything.” 

“Uh huh,” Sam sounded unconvinced but remained silent until they had both cast their lines out into the ocean. 

“So…” Sam started again once Dean was distracted by the pull of the water on his line. “You know Cas’ mom adores you, don’t you,” he tried, toeing the line between his need to understand what his brother was up to and not wanting to spook him into clamming up.

“Anna’s awesome, Cas’ family are really nice Sam, and you got a vacation out of it. What’s your problem?” Dean only sounded half-annoyed, too focussed on his rod to really work himself up. 

“I just… wanna make sure you’ve thought about the consequences of this whole thing. I mean, you really _are_ convincing, if I didn’t know you better I’d think you, well…” he trailed off, not sure how to broach the subject of how Dean’s eyes had sparkled when he kissed Cas last night or how the intimate little touches were a little more overboard than even he and Ruby, and they were _actually_ dating. 

“Of course, I’m not an idiot. Cas and I are friends, we talked about everything before we even got here. He doesn’t have any feelings for me,” Sam was surprised not to detect any notes of disappointment or bitterness in Dean’s voice at that fact, “and I don’t have any feelings for him. You _know_ I’ve played the boyfriend for chicks before, it’s not exactly hard. And sure, Anna and his family’ll be mad when he tells them we’re not together anymore, but it’ll keep her from pestering him all the time about it when he just wants to focus on school. So they might not want me to hang out here again after that, it’s no big deal,” now _there_ was the disappointment Sam had been expecting. Dean _liked_ Cas’ family, and he knew they might not want him around once Cas had a real boyfriend to bring home. 

“You know liking his family isn’t a good reason to keep up a fake relationship, Dean,” Sam said quietly.

“I’m not gonna, it’s only for Gabe’s graduation party and the summer and then we’re gonna head home and everything’s gonna be back to normal.” Dean finally looked up at Sam and smiled warmly. “Relax, Sammy, I’m just having a bit of fun with it, that’s all. Cas is kinda cute, in a dorky sort of way, and it’s funny to mess with him when he can’t fight back.” 

And there it was, that soft smile Dean got when he was talking about Cas. The way he could rationalise _anything_ \- Sam had noticed it the first time he stayed over at their apartment and Dean had stumbled out of Cas’ room with a hangover and mumbled something about striking out with some chick. Cas had explained the cuddling thing to him later while Dean glared daggers at him over his coffee, but Cas seemed to take it with good humor, teasing Dean effortlessly and insisting that Sam know so he didn’t think there was something ‘salacious’ going on between them. Sam still wasn’t convinced, but Cas seemed so earnest he didn’t have the heart to argue. 

Sam let the conversation move on to other things for a while, like what Dean planned to do with his engineering degree when it was finished and whether or not he thought Cas’ linguistics degree would take him abroad. They change subjects again quickly after that was brought up, Dean unwilling to talk for too long about the thought of his _best friend_ moving to another country. His fear of flying notwithstanding, Dean had no desire to travel overseas, though he had expressed an interest in Hawaii once or twice. 

“You remember you’re not allowed to hit on Cas’ cousins at the party, right?” Sam asked as they packed their rods away again, tossing the remaining bait in the water and watching the flurry of fish surround the pieces before they disappeared back into deeper waters. 

“Of course, I wasn’t gonna,” Dean gave him an incredulous look, “I might not have a great track record with relationships, Sammy, but I’m _faithful_ , you know _that_.” 

“Relationship?” Sam cocked an eyebrow and Dean rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

“ _Sam_. Just cause it ain’t real doesn’t mean the same rules don’t apply. I can control myself, for fuck’s sake, what d’you take me for?” 

“Alright, alright, just making sure.” 

Their journey back was a little tenser than the journey out, but by the time they were pulling into the Miltons’ driveway they were chatting amicably again and Dean had lost the tightness to his jaw that Sam knew meant trouble. 

 

“So…” Ruby said, sidling up to Cas while Muriel tugged on Gabe’s hand and pulled him into the candy shop - not that he was protesting very hard. 

“So?” Cas glanced at her curiously.

“You and Dean are… pretty good at this whole act, aren’t ya?” Ruby had a little half-smile on her face, like she knew something Cas didn’t. 

“We’ve been living together a while now, and we know each other very well. Truthfully the only thing that’s really changed is adding a little more affection to our actions than usual.” He looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged, his hands in his pockets making the gesture tighter than it should have been. “It’s been a bit weird, and it took some getting used to for the first few days, but we both know our boundaries and since we share no romantic feelings there’s no concern about either of us getting hurt at the end of summer when we’re going home. Actually, it’s good you think we’re convincing, Ruby, that gives me confidence that we’ll be able to fool the rest of my family,” Cas gave her a nervous smile, obviously anxious about the whole situation.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll do just fine!” She replied brightly, hoping he didn’t notice that it was perhaps a little _too_ enthusiastic. Ruby desperately wanted Cas to feel at ease with her and felt like she owed a lot to him for letting her come along on this summer vacation, but Sam had also given her instructions on what to do if she managed to get Castiel alone so she swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat and began again. “Don’t you think it’ll be hard to go back to normal after? I mean, you’ll be spending like several weeks sleeping in the same bed and making kissy faces at each other, won’t it be weird when you get home and go back to your own bedrooms and stuff?” Cas frowned as he considered this for a moment, obviously something he hadn’t though of before. 

“Not sharing a bed will be easy enough to get used to, and Dean ends up in mine so often when he’s drinking anyway I’m sure I won’t notice. As for the loss of the tactile aspect of our not-relationship, I assure you I will be glad to return to having some distance between us. I understand it’s necessary for the role, but,” he sighed heavily, “it’s just _weird_.” 

“Because you have no feelings for him?” 

“Because I don’t have feelings for him,” Cas agreed, then looked shiftily from side to side, pleased to see Gabe and Muriel were totally engrossed in their candy shopping, “but I sometimes wonder what’s wrong with me for that… I mean, Dean’s an attractive guy - right?” Ruby nodded and shrugged to show she could appreciate his looks even though he wasn’t her type. “And we’re sleeping together, and doing all this coupley stuff, I was really worried I _would_ develop feelings for him, but nothing’s changed. I don’t feel any differently toward him now than I did two weeks ago, and since he’s _exactly_ the sort of guy I’d normally go for… it’s just a little disconcerting that I’m finding it so easy to play along. I guess knowing Dean’s straight does help,” he sighed again, trying to smooth the frown off his face and smile at Ruby, “but at least not feeling like that is actually a good thing in this instance, don’t you agree? It would be a nightmare to fall for my best friend, even if I _do_ worry a little about what it says about me that I can’t develop romantic feelings for an attractive guy who’s all over me all the time.” 

Ruby watched his back as he walked away towards the candy shop to browse while he waited for his siblings, her lips pursed as she considered what he’d said. She had to hide her smile five minutes later when the three Miltons walked out of the candy store, Cas having purchased nothing but an enormous bag of peanut M&Ms, which she knew were Dean’s favorite. 

 

“Smitten,” Ruby sighed, flopping down on Michael’s bed as she walked into the room Sam was currently occupying after their long shopping trip, tossing a small bag with a gift she’d bought him at him flippantly. 

“Besotted,” Sam agreed, “and so far in _denial_ they’re in freakin’ Sudan.” He opened the bag and beamed as he withdrew the embroidered bookmark she’d thought was cute. “Thanks, I love it,” he slipped it into the book on the nightstand, tossing the folded sticky note that had been his previous bookmark in the trash. 

“So what are we gonna do?” She lay back and looked up at him upside-down on the bed and he leaned down to kiss her gently. 

“Not much we _can_ do, Rubes. I know my brother - he’s only likely to get mad if we try to draw their attention to it and Cas is… well, I dunno. What did he say?” 

“He said it was weird that he wasn’t developing feelings for his best friend, who is exactly his type. He actually said the words ‘I don’t feel any differently toward him now than I did two weeks ago.’ And I think that says way more than we were expecting,” she gave Sam a concerned look and he sighed. 

“So we’re fucked, basically. I think we’re just gonna have to watch them, try to nudge them along where we can, and hope they come to it on their own. Much as I enjoy meddling in my brother’s love life I just don’t see any way we can help, not without outing them to anyone else, anyway.”

“Exactly. It might be easier if Dean didn’t hate me so much-“

“He doesn’t _hate_ you Rube, he doesn’t _know_ you,” Sam interjected and she rolled her eyes.

“Alright, whatever. If Dean liked me better, then, it might be easier, cause of course he’ll be reluctant to talk to you about it, but he might open up to someone else. But he doesn’t, so I can’t exactly talk to him about it without getting the same reaction as you. I think you’re right, we’ll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.” 

Sam lay down on the bed beside her, pulling the diminutive girl into his arms and kissing the top of her head affectionately. They lay there together for a while just enjoying the chance to be alone, in love and on an amazing vacation away from school, family and responsibilities. They were starting to drift off to sleep when a loud bang on the door jerked them both into a state of full alertness and Dean’s voice sounded through the wood.

“Wrap it before you tap it, Sammy, y’don’t know where she’s been - and dinner’s in ten! I’m eating yours if you don’t get your ass out here!” 

Ruby’s lips turned down at the rude comment but wisely decided not to say anything - she knew Sam would talk to Dean about it later and she hoped - vainly - that she might eventually be able to redeem herself to Dean somehow, and not getting into fights over his snide remarks was a good start, she felt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be extra short, because the scene I wanted to put in it is running way longer than I expected and I would rather have a short chapter followed by a long chapter than potentially make you all wait an extra week for the next update (because I am unreliable as fuck and can never manage to finish my writing when I'm supposed to, HAHA *weeps quietly*)
> 
> Incidentally, I actually REALLY LOVE FISHING! It's one of my favourite pastimes. \o/


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas and Dean are adorably domestic, and it's finally PARTY TIME! How will Dean cope with meeting all of Cas' family and their family friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, so, sorry for missing last week's update - as I mentioned in a comment I was visiting my heavily pregnant sister and she just can't do anything any more so we were helping her out and time just got away from me ^^; 
> 
> I then decided the delay was good, because apparently my mind wanted to put the scene I had intended to go in the next chapter much later on in the fic, and had to hurriedly write up the next part. By the time I had time to post I figured I might as well just wait a week and upload a double chapter in apology~ 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

“Babe?” Dean’s voice floated through the open door to the living room where Cas, Sam and Ruby were relaxing after dinner. Cas didn’t even glance up from the book he was reading, though his brow furrowed a little, so he missed the look that passed between Ruby and Sam. 

“Yeah?” He called back, sounding bored.

“You seen my swimming trunks?”

“Where did you leave them?” 

Sam had to look away and Ruby covered her mouth to hide her smile at the exchange, Dean on the landing and Cas on the couch yelling to each other instead of having a conversation like normal people.

“I dunno, like in the bathroom I guess?” 

Castiel finally broke away from his book, tipping his head back to look over the back of the couch even though he couldn’t possibly see Dean from his vantage point. “They were covered in blood, mom probably washed them and put them away in my dresser. Top right drawer.”

“Thanks!” 

The sound of Dean’s retreating footsteps echoed through the hall and Cas returned to his book like absolutely nothing had happened, completely ignoring the fact that Sam had one fist in his mouth to prevent himself from laughing and Ruby’s face had gone bright red trying to hold in her own giggles. 

“Well, that was adorably domestic,” Ruby finally quipped, recovering first. Cas looked up at her in surprise, his face showing confusion and uncertainty. 

“I’m used to Dean yelling at me from another part of the apartment,” he shrugged, “even in a much smaller space the concept of simply _walking_ to wherever I am appears to escape him.” 

“He call you _babe_ in the apartment?” Sam teased and Cas flushed red, glancing to the kitchen door where the strains of Gabriel and Muriel tunelessly singing Taylor Swift songs while they did the dishes assured him they wouldn’t be overheard. 

“Of course not,” he hissed, “and please don’t draw attention to the discrepancy while we’re _in my parents home_.” 

Sam and Ruby winced in unison and nodded sheepishly, remembering their promise to do nothing to ‘out’ Dean and Castiel’s faux relationship while they were staying with them. Moments later Dean jogged into the room and threw himself down on the couch beside Cas, looking between him and his brother curiously.

“Am I interrupting something?” He asked, one eyebrow raised as he tucked his feet under Cas’ leg and grabbed a book of his own from the end table. 

“Not at all,” Cas shot back, bristling at Sam who shook his head quickly.

“O-kay… So! Beach tomorrow,” Dean grinned, excited at the prospect of taking Sam and, grudgingly, Ruby to the beach to relax. Anna had told them that as her guests they were exempt from helping with the party planning, and now that Sam and Ruby had joined them she had been adamant that Cas and Dean took them out instead of roping them in to helping. 

“D’you think that’s wise, Dean?” Sam asked, frowning and glancing at the tiny girl beside him.

“What d’you mean, Sammy?” Dean closed his book on his finger and raised an eyebrow at his brother.

“Well, given that the first time you and Cas went to the beach you both got attacked, and the second time when you went with me we _nearly_ got attacked… don’t you think it might be a better idea to, I dunno, find a public pool or something?” 

Cas looked up from his own book, squinting at Sam before turning back to Dean. “You nearly got attached at the beach?” His tone was low, dangerous, and Dean winced and shot his brother a dirty look.

“Alastair and his goons thought it might be fun to pick on us again, especially without you around to kick their asses. Took one look at the Hulk here,” he nodded towards Sam, “and ran off faster’n you can say ‘homophobic cowards’. No big deal.” Dean smiled weakly but Cas’ glare only intensified.

“And you didn’t think it was worth mentioning this to me? You were content to just head off to the same place and risk getting harassed a third time?” Cas’ voice was cold, but Dean knew it was worry more than anger that was bothering him.

“Hey man, I figured between the four of us we’d be able to take anything they could throw at us. I mean, you’re a Champion, I’m a pretty good wrestler, Sam’s built like a freakin’ brick wall, and, if I remember correctly, Ruby’s always been pretty handy with a blade. What could they possibly do to us?” He tried another smile and looked pleadingly at Sam and Ruby, silently begging them for their help.

Cas sighed heavily, putting his book to one side and rubbing his face in exasperation. “Listen, Dean, if it was just Alastair and his two lackeys we had to worry about then I’d agree with you. But… the whole reason I went into martial arts in the first place was because it _wasn’t_ just them. I told you, we were lucky it was only Alastair that first time. There’s another guy, Crowley, and he’s just as bad - maybe worse. Alastair, yeah, we can probably take him alone. If he brings Crowley with him, though… The odds would be far less favorable.” 

Dean stared at Cas in shock, the sudden realisation hitting him that Cas was _afraid_ of these guys. For all his bravado the other day, they had bullied him for _years_ , and were clearly not above some underhanded tactics to get to him. His heart ached with the thought of what could made his brilliant best friend fear a bunch of losers like that and he reached out to take Cas’ hand instinctively, not even caring that it was more than he’d have done back home. 

“Alright, I’m sorry Cas, what should we do instead? Find a public pool like Sam suggested?” His voice was soft and careful, Dean pouring all his sincerity into the few short words.

“No need, there are plenty of other beaches in Miami,” Cas said huffily, “we’ll just go somewhere different. It’ll be a little further, but it’s no big deal.” 

 

Cas woke with his arms full of warm, smooth body, and pressed closer to it instinctually. Snuffling sleepily, he pressed his morning erection into the soft cleft of ass plastered against the front of his body and hummed happily at the jolt of pleasure he got from the friction. Kissing the back of his partner’s neck gently, he ran his hands across hard muscle, squeezing a hipbone affectionately before moving up again as he nibbled the skin within reach of his lips. His nose was full of a delicious scent - his partner was clearly using _his_ hair products, and that only made Cas more turned on, smelling himself all over the man in his bed. Another hum escaped his lips as his hand traveled lower, tracing the softness of the guy’s stomach and just barely brushing the waistband of his pajama pants before a low chuckle drew him further into full consciousness.

“Not that I’d normally complain about a morning hand job, dude, but I guess you’re not exactly awake right now,” Dean’s voice cut through his sleepiness like a hot knife through butter, and Cas jerked his hand away with a strangled cry, hurling himself out of the bed in the next breath and backing away from Dean as quickly as he could.

“I-I-I-I,” he stammered, his face a picture of abject horror at the thought of what he’d been about to do to his best friend. His morning wood had completely vanished from the shock; one small thing to be thankful of, at least.

“Dude, it’s fine,” Dean chuckled and sat up, stretching lazily before flopping back down and cocking an eyebrow at Cas. “We’re a couple of young guys, it was inevitable _one_ of us’d wake up with morning wood sooner or later. Don’t sweat it.”

“I am _so sorry_ Dean,” Cas said earnestly, approaching the bed again but making no move to climb back into it, “my relaxed brain clearly felt a male body close by in my bed and made incorrect presumptions in my semi-conscious state. Of course, I would never even think of doing something like that to you were I awake.” 

Dean waved a hand airily, barely visible in the dim light of the room. “I said it’s fine, chill out and get back in bed dammit.”

Cas slid back into the bed but stayed as far away from Dean as he could, turning his back on the other boy and practically falling off the bed in his desperation to put space between them. Dean huffed quietly and closed his eyes, determined to get a little more sleep before Cas’ alarm went off to wake them for their trip.

 

The moment the alarm sounded Cas bolted out of bed and down the hall, practically slamming the bathroom door shut in his haste and Dean rolled over, spreading out across the now vacated space on the bed. He sighed and shook his head at Cas’ behavior; he really hadn’t been remotely upset by what happened during the night, if anything he was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. It had actually been kind of… nice. He knew he shouldn’t think that, but it was. Dean knew he should probably come clean with Cas that he wasn’t _exactly_ as straight as he’d made himself out to be, and that he had actually been with more guys than Cas himself, but every time he’d thought to mention it the words had stuttered on his tongue and he’d chickened out. It wasn’t like he had a _crush_ on Cas or anything, he really didn’t, he just wasn’t sure how his best friend would take the, well, the fact that he’d been lied to, if Dean was honest with himself. Anyway, it was hard to think of a way to say it _now_ , without giving Cas the wrong idea, especially since he’d woken up to the guy humping his backside. Dean smiled at the memory, wishing Cas would just relax and let himself go once in a while. He wasn’t going to hold anything that happened on this vacation against the guy, nor was he going to pretend that this whole charade was fun and that he actually kind of enjoyed getting to be all lovey-dovey with someone without being judged for it. Usually chicks hated it when he was too over the top with his affections, and Sammy always teased him whenever he brought someone home and doted on them the way he was doing with Cas, so it was just plain liberating getting to let loose all his secret, well-hidden tendencies towards being a _damn_ good boyfriend. 

Dean was halfway through a daydream about taking Cas home for next summer vacation and introducing him to his parents when the door flew open and Cas stalked in, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel, another held in his hand, which he threw at Dean. That snapped him right out of his _completely inappropriate_ thoughts, and he sat up, staring at Cas in surprise while his friend stalked irritably around the room, pointedly refusing to look at Dean as he yanked open drawers with way more force than was completely necessary.

“Wow, what crawled up your ass this morning, dude?” Dean quipped, stretching and lying back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

“Go shower, Dean, we need to leave after breakfast and mom’s not going to be cooking for us today - remember she said she had to go out early today with dad to pick up some party stuff.” Cas’ tone was gruff and Dean frowned.

“What’s the point in showering before we go to the beach? I’m only gonna get all sandy and salty anyway, might as well save it till I get back. And seriously, if you’re gonna be a dick all day because of something so completely stupid like what happened this morning maybe it’s better if we just stay here and help Anna out.” He sat up this time, glaring at Cas who was staring at him in surprise at his harsh words before flushing a deep scarlet and looking down to where he twisted a well-worn t-shirt in his hands.

“Dean, I’m sorry about what happened,” he began but Dean cut him off.

“Cas, stop apologizing! How many times do I gotta tell you it’s _fine_? For fuck’s sake, will you let it go?” 

They stared at each other for a long moment, Dean’s angry eyes boring into Cas’ ashamed ones before Cas finally broke the gaze and coughed nervously. 

“Fine, okay. Thank you. We should get ready.” 

Dean climbed out of bed and threw on some clothes, his swimming trunks already packed in a duffel with Sam’s and Cas’, as well as a bundle Ruby had slipped in there as discreetly as possible, to Dean’s great amusement. They made their way downstairs and Dean immediately made himself at home in the kitchen, rustling up some bacon and eggs while whistling cheerily along to the music on Anna’s kitchen radio. Ruby and Sam turned up shortly after, drawn by the delicious smells of food, and it wasn’t long before they were all fed and getting ready to leave. 

Muriel and Gabriel called goodbye from the dining room, both instructed in no uncertain terms that today they would be helping with party planning - Cas was feeling a little smug that he was getting out of a lot of the party stuff by virtue of having guests, and he made sure to stick his tongue out at his older brother before disappearing out of the front door to pile into the shiny black Impala with the others. 

 

The rest of the week flew by before they knew it, the four visitors largely excused from party-related tasks in favor of enjoying their rare vacation time all together. Despite his desperate attempts to keep her at arm’s length, Dean found himself warming to Ruby and before the week was out Sam and Castiel found the pair of them joining forces in dragging them to increasingly outrageous places until finally Cas put his foot down and sternly told them both off. This only drew more laughter from them, however, while Cas bristled at Dean, who just smiled and curled an arm around his shoulder, kissing his cheek and blithely saying “whatever you want, dear,” in the most facetious way possible. 

Soon, they found themselves washing and dressing for Gabriel’s big celebration party, a fact the man in question was insufferably proud about.

“Make sure your man looks his best, Cassie,” Gabriel teased his youngest brother, “I don’t want people showing up to my party and thinking my kid brother’s brought along a hobo for his date,” he winked, dancing nimbly out of Cas’ reach as he tried to punch his brother.

“Not that I think anyone will be paying attention to us in the _least_ , Gabriel, but you don’t have to concern yourself with that. Dean brushes up surprisingly well, when he bothers to make an effort.” Cas sniffed with the air of someone who couldn’t care less, though his heart beat a staccato in his chest as he hoped Dean would indeed live up to his words and make an effort. Even if they weren’t really together, it was important for them to give a good show tonight, since most of the Miltons’ family and long-time friends would be in attendance, and he really didn’t want them to think the first guy he brought home wasn’t up to standard… Not that he was truly concerned, but Dean did have this tendency to act like a fool when he was showing off. 

Cas’ mind was put at rest, though, the moment Dean jogged down the stairs, nimbly threading silken fabric around itself to tie his tie in an intricate knot. Cas tugged plaintively at his own poor attempt, unsure how he could manage something so pretty when Cas himself could barely manage to get it to sit _straight_. Ah, but wasn’t that just the story of his life? He let out a nervous little giggle at the thought and Dean raised an eyebrow at him before grinning and crossing the room to tug on his tie. Within moments the fabric was loose in his hands and Dean had begun flipping it around in front of Cas’ very eyes until he carefully tightened it around his not-boyfriend’s neck and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

“Well, it ain’t an Eldredge but it’ll do,” he grinned. 

“A… what?” Cas frowned in confusion, looking at himself in the mirror on the wall and touching the perfectly tied knot with gentle reverence, as if his mere touch might unravel it.

“That’s a Trinity knot, an Eldredge is more handsome but it’s harder and doesn’t leave a lot of fabric. Maybe if we go to a wedding and ya gotta wear a vest I’ll show you that one. Still, it’s better than the backwards monstrosity you were wearing before,” he winked, putting his arms around Cas and nuzzling under his ear gently. “You look nice,” he murmured, and Cas began to relax into his arms before remembering that they were alone and it wasn’t necessary. 

“You do too, now let go of me. You’re creasing my shirt,” he stuck his tongue out petulantly at Dean in the mirror and the taller boy chuckled before stepping back. 

“Alright, alright, mister proper. I’ll go find Sam and Ruby and see if they’re ready to leave yet. I don’t want those crazy kids walking up to the party on their own, anything might happen to ‘em.” 

Dean disappeared back up the stairs in an instant and Cas was left to stare after him, a chill on his skin where Dean’s touch had been mere moments ago. He shook it off and scrutinized his appearance in the mirror once more, admiring the delicate knot of his tie and checking that his hair was still just the right amount of deliberately messy. Dean had once described his default style as ‘sex hair’, and Cas had ‘turned it up to 11’, as Dean was fond of saying. He gave himself a reassuring smile before turning back as the others came tumbling down the stairs, laughing in excitement. Sam was dressed in much the same clothing as he and Dean, and Ruby looked positively resplendent in a shiny red dress the color of her namesake. She grinned as she saw Cas’ appreciative glance.

“Sam helped me pick it, it’s satin, d’you like it?” She sounded hopeful, like she was desperate for Cas’ approval.

“You look beautiful, Ruby, it’s a good job Gabriel doesn’t have a date for this party or you would most assuredly show her up,” Cas replied, meaning every word. She beamed at him and looked up at Sam, her gaze changing to that adoring look she didn’t seem to even know she had every time she looked at him. Sam looked back at her with equal affection and it was only Dean’s cleared throat and poking his brother’s arm that broke them from each other and reminded them all that they had a party to get to.  

 

The party was… well… _boring_. Dean scanned the crowd as he took generous swigs from his beer, barely swaying to the frankly ridiculous music Anna had picked out. The Winchesters didn’t have much in the way of family, not really, and the gatherings they had with their adopted extended family were much more erratic than this… whatever it was. The way Anna had described it, Dean had expected to be rocking out within minutes of arriving, but it was actually a very subdued affair. So far it had involved Gabriel making a long-winded speech of gratitude and then making the rounds to talk to everyone, while Castiel had also been roped into greeting his more elderly relatives. Dean had, at first, been dragged along with him - many of the family members absolutely desperate to meet the boy who had finally managed to bring Cas out of his shell - but after the first handful he’d politely excused himself under the pretense of needing the restroom and grabbing more drinks, before fleeing to a darkened corner of the hall Anna had hired for the occasion. 

Dean watched Cas’ many aunts and uncles talk to him and smiled as his housemate replied in his usual, serious manner. For all that Dean knew Cas could have a good time like the best of them when the situation called for it, he was in his element here. He watched as Cas nodded at and answered his aunt Naomi, who Dean had been introduced to on the fly as they moved through the crowd on arrival, and move on to strike up a conversation with his older cousin, Uriel. His uncle Raphael and aunt Rachel hovered nearby, barely moving out of earshot of their adult son - they had been one of the few couples who had made it well known that they disapproved of Castiel’s _lifestyle_ , as they put it. Dean thought they should take a running jump, Cas was one of the best people he knew - gay or not - and they should take a leaf from their beloved Bible before casting doubts on him just cause he didn’t love the way they wanted him to. 

Cas looked up then and caught Dean’s eye, a small smile crossing his face when he realized that Dean had escaped his family’s attentions and was hiding out. Dean felt his heart skip a little as they shared a look before Cas turned back to another of his cousins, Hannah, who had been begging him for months to come and lead some Christian LGBTQA group her church were trying to set up. Though she wasn’t gay herself, she’d taken on the mantle of an ally with enthusiasm once she discovered he favorite cousin was, but that had led to Castiel spending more time trying to dodge her incessant attempts to draw him into the LGBT community than actually spending time _looking_ for a boyfriend. Dean let his eyes track Cas across the room until he saw Anna watching him with a knowing look and he flushed, dragging his gaze away from his boyfriend with regret… 

Dean’s body went suddenly cold and his breath fled his throat in a gasp of sudden realization that left him feeling strange and sad. Anna frowned as his expression and body language changed before he slipped through the crowd and out through the back door, making some excuse to yet another cousin about his need for some fresh air just in case Anna decided to come and follow him. Fortunately she’d been hard at work with her sketchbook - some project she’d been working on sporadically since their arrival - so he was hopeful that she wouldn’t want to abandon it for the sake of her son’s apparent boyfriend. 

Sucking in great lungfuls of air, Dean trotted across the parking lot and leaned on the low wall while he caught his breath. The smell of cigarette smoke drew his attention and he peered over the wall to see Ruby looking like a snared rabbit, glowing cigarette between two fingers of her right hand and the neck of a small bottle of some cheap spirit in the other.

“Uh… I can explain,” she said hurriedly, desperation coloring her voice as she feared the tentative friendship she’d been building with Dean had been shattered. 

Instead, Dean vaulted easily over the wall and sat down beside her, dragging the bottle from her hand and taking a long pull from it, coughing at the acrid taste and the welcome burn as he passed it back to her.

“Don’t bother,” he said, pulling his knees up and resting his chin on them. 

They sat in silence, Ruby smoking her cigarette and passing the bottle back and forth between them for a while, illuminated only by a couple of dim streetlights on the sidewalk and the moon above them. Dean was glad it was summer and warm enough to be sitting outside like this, although at this point he was sure he’d had enough alcohol not to give a damn about the temperature anyway.

“Ruby,” he said suddenly, huffing a sigh and tipping his head back to look up at the stars, “have you ever had a really great idea, like _really_ great, only to figure out after you’ve done it that it was actually a really shitty idea?” 

Ruby stared at him, brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to follow what Dean was saying. “Heck yeah,” she replied, finally, “just about every decision I ever made that landed me in juvie. Y’know, stealing stuff and lighting fires and underage drinking all sound like super ideas at the time, especially when your asshole boyfriend’s keeping you hooked on a cocktail of drugs, but once you’re off all that you realize that you might just have fucked up your whole entire life.” She crushed out the cigarette and immediately lit another one, ignoring Dean’s raised eyebrow. “I picked this up in juvie; better to be hooked on nicotine than a crack whore, right? Anyway, I thought I was basically done for, a worthless drop out nobody. All the other kids at school were like you, they remembered blond-bitch-Ruby, the one who’d steal your lunch money to buy drugs, the one who threw a homemade molotov through the school window because she was too high to pass her exams.” She took a long drag off the cigarette and Dean had the decency to look chagrined; he’d learned over the last few days that Ruby was alright, even if he still didn’t technically _like_ her, he knew he’d been unfair in his treatment of her. 

“Anyways, I was trying real hard to go straight, not get into fights and be a better person. I was working hard and doing all sorts of extra curricular stuff for the school, you know all that shit that nobody wants to do because it has no real benefit for anyone but the school? And some guys jumped me after school one day, said I was a whore and should be treated like one, and asked me how much for a blow job. They tried to…” she took another long drag on the cigarette before crushing it out between her fingers and blowing the smoke out through her nose. Dean thought abstractly that she looked like an angry baby dragon and fought down an urge to giggle. He was drunk, he realized, but whatever Ruby was getting at was important, so he had to listen. 

“Sam was going home from some dumb nerd meet and he overheard them, and he just… he saved me, in every sense. I dunno what I did to deserve him, but he saw something in me I didn’t see at the time. And now I just… I gotta do what I can to make up for the shit I did in my past, and to do right by Sam. He… I really love him Dean, I know you don’t like me much, but I do. I know he deserves better, so I gotta be better for him. Sometimes, you just meet that right person and you gotta cling on to them with all your might, do everything you have to to keep ‘em, cause if you lose ‘em, they ain’t coming back, y’know?”

Ruby’s voice had turned melancholic, and Dean gently pulled the bottle of cheap whiskey from her fingers, pouring the last of it away to remove temptation - for both of them - while he curled an arm around her shoulders in a vague attempt at comfort.

“Ah, you’re alright Rube,” he said quietly, listening to her hiccup softly as she got herself back under control.

“Thanks Dean, think we should go back to the party?” 

“Yeah, definitely,” he stood and was surprised when the world span a little but he chuckled as he pulled Ruby to her feet. “For what it’s worth, I’ve not seen Sam this happy since his first sweetheart, Jess, moved to Europe. No matter what you’ve done in the past, you make my kid brother happy, and that’s all I want for him. Now enough of these damn chick-flick moments, it’s time to PARTY!” 

Arm curled around her shoulder, he all-but dragged Ruby back into the party. Thankfully the older relatives had mostly left and the lights had been dimmed. There was a DJ starting up and it began to feel like a real party instead of some church shindig - Dean was glad that he’d finally be able to let loose a bit. He released Ruby the moment he caught sight of Sam, giving her a little nudge in his direction with a wink before weaving off to find Cas. He found him on the dance floor with some of his other cousins and seriously, Dean knew their family were religious but he had no idea they had all been breeding like bunnies for the last twenty-odd years; just how many cousins did this guy have, anyway?! Cas looked supremely uncomfortable, as he always did whenever Dean dragged him to a frat party or whatever on campus or off, but was doing his best to move at least in time with the music, even if his dancing was stiff and awkward. Dean slid up behind him and curled his arms around him, breathing in his aftershave gleefully and just managing to resist the urge to kiss his neck.

“Dude, you need to loosen up,” he crooned into Cas’ ear and he felt Cas stiffen in his embrace.

“Dean, you absolutely stink of alcohol and cigarettes; have you been smoking?” His tone was full of disapproval and Dean chuckled.

“Nah, just chatting to Ruby while _she_ smoked. That demon chick… she’s not so bad, y’know?” Dean was swaying with the music now, trying to help Cas get into the swing of things, but Cas didn’t seem like he wanted to dance all that much any more and he began struggling, trying to get out of Dean’s grip.

“C’mon Cas, dance with me,” Dean spun him around and pulled him in again, curling his arms around Cas’ waist and dragging him close until they were almost nose-to-nose, “I know you can dance, you dance in the apartment when you’ve got your iPod on and you think I’m not around. _I see you baby, shakin’ that ass_ ,” he quoted with a slightly drunken giggle. 

“You spy on me in the apartment?” Cas didn’t sound impressed but Dean didn’t let that deter him. 

“Nah, just sometimes you’re so into it you don’t notice when I’m there, and I gotta go back in my room before you notice so you don’t know I’ve seen. ‘S cute.” Dean nuzzled into Cas’ neck, rubbing his nose across the soft skin and up into the scratch of his stubble.

“Dean, stop it,” Cas hissed, tightening his grip on Dean’s arms and trying to push him away.

“Aw Cas, can’t a guy dance with his boyfriend at a party?” Dean asked, stepping back and pouring on the puppy dog eyes. He knew he was good at it - he’d taught Sam, after all, and that kid was damn _irresistible_ when he turned on the charm.

“For fuck’s sake Dean,” Cas growled, pushing him away.

“Mm, now there’s a good idea,” Dean purred, letting Cas go and giving him the old bedroom eyes, turning on the Smolder to the best of his abilities. 

“Dean!” Cas was all-but shouting now, “will you behave yourself?”

“I’m just having a bit of fun with my boyfriend,” Dean shot back, stroking one hand up Cas’ arm and lightly touching the back of his fingers to his face.

“Dean for crying out loud,” Cas yelled, “ _you are not my boyfriend!!”_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorryyyyyyy I know it's getting very rom-com cliché-y but I happen to like rom-com clichés so............. ehe ^^; 
> 
> Have a cliffhanger for a week :3 
> 
> As always, if you spot any errors feel free to point them out since I haven't got a beta and I only finished writing this like an hour ago - I try to give things a few proof reads to pick up any mistakes, but I do miss things XD 
> 
> See you next week! *flees*


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the party...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late, I didn't mean to make you all wait so long! 
> 
> Warnings for mentions of:  
> Using alcohol as a coping mechanism  
> John Winchester's bad parenting
> 
> Only mentions, but better safe than sorry.

“ _You are not my boyfriend!!”_

It’s like a scene from a terrible movie, Sam thought, as he watched Cas push his brother away and yell at him. The whole room sort of stopped to watch, because honestly what else can you do? It’s like a train wreck, you hate yourself for looking but you can’t tear your eyes away. It even seemed to slow down, like it does in the movies, and Sam looked on in horror and dismay as he saw his brother’s face crumple before the man turned away from Cas and stalked from the room. 

“Dean, I didn’t mean- _Dean_ ,” Cas called after him and began to follow, but Sam’s faster and he took Cas’ arm in an iron grip, squeezing perhaps more tightly than he really needed to, and shook his head in an abrupt motion before pulling Cas back into the room.

“Oh no, Castiel, you don’t get to run off after him and yell at him some more while your family stand around all confused and look to me and Ruby to explain your shit. _You_ talk to them,” he said, low and dangerous as he pushed Cas towards where Gabe, Muriel, Chuck and - most of all - Anna stood waiting for him to come clean. The music hadn’t stopped and most of the people in the room had already lost interest in the outburst of one of the many young people in the room, because there’s a decent crowd on the dance floor now and it allowed Cas’ immediately family to hone in on him.

“Yeah, Cassie, talk to us,” Gabe said in a sad voice, Muriel clutching his hand desperately as she tried to make heads or tails of what the hell was happening. 

“Castiel,” Chuck said quietly and Cas turned away, unable to bear the thought of seeing disappointment in his father’s eyes.

“I just… Don’t have time for dating at college, and you all expected me to have someone to bring home for the summer… Dean offered and it seemed like a good idea.” A wave of sadness crashed over him as he realized he’d probably just lost his best friend, all because he couldn’t pretend to be the man’s boyfriend for one lousy night. Tears rose in his eyes and a strangled sob escaped from his throat; he wasn’t anywhere near as drunk as Dean, but he’d had enough that hiding his emotions right now was basically impossible. 

“However bad you feel, Castiel, I’ll bet Dean’s feeling ten times worse,” Sam muttered, his voice hard. Much as he liked Cas, he loved his brother fiercely and he wasn’t going to forgive this in a hurry.

 

While Sam was focused on Cas, Ruby took the opportunity to slip away, chasing Dean out into the night. The haze from the whiskey they’d shared had worn off in the excitement, and it didn’t take her long to catch up to him.

“Hey, Dean,” she said quietly, not sure if her presence would be welcomed.

“What d’you want?” He muttered back, not slowing his pace or straightening the hunch of his back with his hands shoved as deeply into his pockets as possible. His tie, once beautifully neat, was pulled loose and askew and when he finally looked up and met Ruby’s eyes she felt her heart ache at the pain in them. 

“What just happened?” She decided to go for flippant, since Dean was never one to appreciate concern or pity, and she was pretty sure he’d exceeded his ‘talking about feelings’ quota for the evening, if not the whole week.

“I got too handsy and Cas got mad, or whatever. It’s okay, he’s right, I’m _not_ his boyfriend and I shoulda learned his boundaries by now. My fault,” he finished sadly, turning onto the street where the Miltons lived. 

“Dean…” Ruby said in exasperation, “maybe you were in the wrong, but Cas coulda handled that better too. There was no need to overreact like that. I saw you, you weren’t doing anything any other couple wasn’t doing, and maybe you might’ve been a bit too enthusiastic for Cas’ liking, but he didn’t need to yell at you like that.”

“Don’t even try to defend me, Ruby,” Dean snarled, rounding on her as they reached the steps of the house, “he told me to stop and I didn’t, that was one of the first things we set down in this arrangement and I shoulda respected that. It’s on me, so don’t even think about putting blame on Cas. Don’t you dare.”

“Alright, but d’you really think running away is the right way to deal with it? We both know this ‘arrangement’ isn’t all you guys meant it to be, don’t even try to tell me it is.” Ruby thought back to their earlier conversation, realizing belatedly that Dean had been talking about his pretend relationship with Cas when asking her about bad ideas. 

Dean huffed and turned away, jogging up the steps and fumbling with the keys - _Cas’_ keys, he remembered with a sad ache in his chest - before managing to get the door open and letting them both inside. “Yeah, well, even if… he doesn’t… wouldn’t… We’re not like that, and we never will be. So don’t even say it, Ruby, or I swear to God…”

“I’m not saying anything,” Ruby said, holding her hands up defensively, “I’m just, y’know, pointing out the blindingly obvious.”

“Yeah, well, don’t. I’m going to bed,” Dean growled, taking the stairs two at a time. 

Ruby heard the bedroom door slam moments later and sagged against the wall in defeat. 

 

“What can I do?” Cas asked, looking up at Sam mournfully and pointedly trying to avoid his mother’s gaze, knowing she would have a lot more to say about this when they were no longer at the party. She, of all of them, had grown most attached to Dean in their short stay at the Miltons home, and Cas knew she would be unhappy to give up the newfound friendship she’d kindled with his probably former friend. “You saw how he ran out of here, I’ve pissed him off and he’s not going to just forgive me for that. He tried so hard, did so much - even though he doesn’t even like guys - and I basically threw that all back in his face. I fucked it all up, how can I face him now, Sam?” 

“Doesn’t even like…” Gabriel spluttered, turning his laugh into a cough. “Dude, if Dean doesn’t like guys I swear to God I’ll swear off candy for a _year_.”

“Castiel,” Anna’s quiet but firm voice cut through the small group like a knife, her authority almost regal as she drew their attention and Cas reluctantly looked up at his mom, fearful of what he’d see there. “The first thing you need to do is apologize to him. He might not forgive you right away, he might not forgive you ever, but you owe him that much. He’s your best friend, and neither of you should just let this go so easily. Even friends fight, but a quarrel doesn’t have to mean the end of your friendship.” Cas looked at her with gratitude and a little hope in his eyes, desperately wanting to believe that he might not have lost Dean altogether. 

“However,” she continued, and his face fell, “I want you to examine your feelings for him closely. It’s not fair to lead him on, so you need to be completely honest - both with him, _and_ yourself.” 

“Yes, mom,” Cas said quietly, nodding once and ducking his head in shame. He and Dean had thought they were having a little harmless charade, but instead not only has he hurt his friend but he’s also probably ruined the party his mom worked so hard to plan. He hunched in tighter and tried to make himself as small as possible, staring at the ground and wishing it would open up and swallow him. 

“Go home, talk to your friend, we’ll stay for the rest of the party and give you two time to talk things out.” Chuck stepped in, ever the voice of calm reasoning even as he undoubtedly planned how he could use this drama in his next book. His family were used to being used for inspiration, though Cas secretly hoped this shame of his would be omitted.

Cas nodded again and all but fled the room, Sam looking after him with a hard expression. 

“Don’t be too hard on him, Sam,” Anna said sadly, putting her hand on the seventeen year old’s shoulder, “he’s just a little bit confused.” 

 

Ruby was sitting on the stairs when Cas let himself into the house and she looked up, surprise and then sympathy crossing her face as she stood up, brushing off her dress with her hands and stepping aside.

“He’s shut himself in your room,” she said, “I think he’s really upset. Sam’ll kill you if you hurt him any more, so be careful please? I don’t want to go back to juvie for helping my boyfriend cover up a murder,” her tone was joking but her expression told Cas all he needed to know and he huffed a short laugh. 

“I didn’t mean to… I mean, I wasn’t…” he started, all his words trying to exit his mouth at once. Ruby too his hands in hers and squeezed them.

“You should explain yourself to him, not me,” she started, “and calm down. I’ll head back to the party,” she kissed his cheek, leaving a small smear of red lipstick, and squeezed his hands once more before leaving the house, her high heels clicking loudly on the steps as she made her way back to the party. 

Cas took a deep breath and climbed the stairs slowly, taking his time and trying to get his thoughts in order. When he was stood outside his own bedroom door, he knocked quietly and waited for a reply. None came and he dropped his head against the wood with a sigh.

“Dean, Ruby told me you were in there,” he began, speaking loudly enough that he hoped his voice would carry through the door. “Listen, I’m sorry I overreacted. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me in the last few weeks and I know you were only trying to be convincing. There was no reason for me to yell at you but I had a few drinks and… I’m just not good at all this touchy-feely stuff like you are.” He slid down to his knees, folding his hands in his lap as he continued to let his words stream out of his mouth. 

“You’ve been so good to me, so kind, and I can never thank you enough for trying to help. My family love you, and I think it’s a bit unfair of me to have asked you to put on this act for my benefit when I know it’ll hurt you when we go through the inevitable pretend break up. It’ll hurt them too, and I didn’t think it through enough when I decided this was the best course of action. I never really expected you to take to this so easily, or so well, and I just…” he paused and sighed heavily. “I’ll understand if you can’t live with me after this. I’ll move out and even to the other side of campus if you need me to. I’ll give you whatever space you need, Dean, but… Please, _please_ don’t stop being my friend altogether. I can handle our friendship changing if I have to, but I… I can’t lose you completely, I just _can’t_. You’re my best friend Dean. Please forgive me.” 

Cas knelt there on one side of the door, oblivious to the fact that Dean sat on the other side, listening intently and holding back all of the emotions that were welling up inside him. How could Cas blame himself for all this? How could he sit there and say he would give up his room in their apartment? How could he beg for Dean’s forgiveness? Dean wanted to throw open the door and grab Cas, hold him tight and kiss him stupid - he knew, now, that was his problem, and that’s exactly why he sat there in silence. He kept his breathing steady and quiet until he heard Cas sigh and get up, heard his footsteps retreat down the stairs. Dean nestled his head in his arms and took a deep shuddering breath. He should have known that this was too easy. He should have known that this could never end well. He should have guessed after that first night, when he felt so happy waking up with Cas in his arms, that this wasn’t the simple act that he thought it was. 

Dean Winchester was in love with Castiel Milton, and he was utterly, and completely, fucked. 

 

The others arrived home in the early hours of the morning, the incident from earlier on almost forgotten as they got caught up in the revelry of the party. Anna had absolutely outdone herself with the planning and, Castiel’s outburst notwithstanding, the entire evening had gone off just about without a hitch. The redheaded artist beamed as her husband praised her, kissing her face until their children made gagging noises and Gabe muttered something about being violently ill all over the carpet. Sam and Ruby just smiled, hoping that if they ever got married they would be as obviously in love as Chuck and Anna Milton after 35 years together. 

Their mood was dampened slightly when they tumbled into the sitting room only to find Castiel asleep on the couch, still in his suit, although he had removed his shoes. His face looked tear-stained and troubled, as though he wasn’t sleeping too well, and Anna covered him with an old afghan her mother had crocheted for her, kissing his dark hair and ushering the others from the room. They went to bed shortly after that, their plans of staying up and watching the sun rise sounding less appealing after the reminder that all was _not_ well in the Milton household. 

 

Dean didn’t leave Cas’ bedroom the next morning, although he let Sam in with a tray of breakfast and talked quietly to him while Sam sat and watched him like a hawk, making sure he demolished the entire bowl of oatmeal _and_ the short stack of pancakes Anna had made for him. Sam knew Dean had a tendency to withdraw into himself when he was upset, punish himself by denying himself basic needs if he couldn’t get his hands on liquor to drink his cares away. Their dad hadn’t exactly been a shining example of good coping mechanisms, despite how hard their mother tried, and Sam wanted to make sure that Dean didn’t take his usual route of blaming himself for everything that was going wrong. They skirted the issue of Cas like an elephant in the room, Dean’s hand trembling as he lifted fork or spoon to his mouth every time Sam said the man’s name, his gaze skittering away from Sam’s to fix on some bare corner of the room until Sam changed the subject again. 

Cas was just as morose, picking at his food and refusing to meet the eyes of everyone in the room. Finally, Gabe announced he’d had enough and was too hungover for “this morose bullshit”, grabbed Muriel’s hand and his keys and called over his shoulder that he was taking Muriel to the arcade for a few hours and that he expected everyone to cheer the fuck up when he got back. Sam and Ruby were quick to follow at his pointed glance, just as glad to spend the day out of the house rather than waiting for their brothers to get their shit together. Not to mention the fact that Sam was having a hard time not glaring daggers at Castiel, and it was easier to remove himself from the other’s presence than remind himself that Cas was hurting too, and that Dean was a least a _little_ bit at fault in the whole mess too. Cas leaned down onto the table, folding his arms underneath his head and burying his face into the crook of his elbow. 

“I’ve messed _everything_ up.” He moaned as Anna moved around him, tidying up the breakfast things in that unrelentingly practical way mothers do things that need doing regardless of what fleeting tragedies might be occurring in the minds of their children. Cas heard her stack the dishes by the sink and wipe down what parts of the table he wasn’t draped across before sitting down opposite him.

“Castiel,” she said, and her voice was surprisingly gentle. He expected a berating, to be dressed down for what he’d done; the charade _and_ shouting at Dean at the party. He didn’t expect her eyes to be so full of pity when he finally met them. 

She didn’t need words, she only pushed towards him the sketchbook she’d been working on since he and Dean had arrived. He remembered her drawing at the beach, how protective she’d been of the book, even stopping Chuck from looking over her shoulder at her work. He knew his mom was a well respected artist and that many of her paintings were hung in churches and galleries across the city, so why was she offering him this sketchbook, the one she had been so overprotective of?

He understood as he flipped open the front page and his own face stared back at him. He flipped through each page, some simply black and white sketches while others had been filled out in pencils or watercolors. He stared up at his mom in surprise before flicking back to the front of the book. 

Each picture depicted a moment from their vacation. The first was Cas and Dean staring at each other, that first meal where Dean had explained the lie about how he and Cas had gotten together. The open adoration in Dean’s face took his breath away, while his own face was an almost impassive mask of fondness and slight confusion. 

The second and third pages were from the beach, sketches of Dean and Cas playing together in the surf, lying on the sand holding hands as they dozed in the sun, applying sunscreen to each others backs. The next few pages were much the same, just little snapshots of things that had happened around Anna. Sometimes a single page would be taken up with an image of them just staring at each other, and Cas’ face warmed at the complete devotion he saw there. Other times it would be lots of little things; their little fingers linked as they stood in the yard, curled up on the couch together reading books, Dean’s eyes or his own, but every page was _them_. His own expression warmed over time from the confused mask to a reflection of Dean’s, their affection for one another growing in Anna’s drawings and Cas wondered if this was how other people had seen them. Understanding dawned on his face as he looked up at his mom.

“How did you, why did you… I don’t…” he babbled, his face flushing red.

“I just draw what I see, Castiel, nothing more, nothing less.” 

Cas studied the sketchbook a little longer then flipped it shut with a snap and stood up. Anna watched as he sprinted from the room and then heard his footsteps thunder up the stairs. 

He pounded on his bedroom door to let Dean know he was there and yelled “I’m coming in!” before throwing the door open without waiting for Dean to answer. Which was a good thing, really, since Dean was no longer in the bedroom. The curtains fluttered in the breeze coming through the open window just as Cas heard the roar of the Impala’s engine and the squeal of her tires as Dean sped off into the street. Cas took the stairs down two at a time and ran out of the front door just in time to see the shiny black car turn the corner, her loud engine fading into silence.

“He’s gone,” Cas whispered, his voice hoarse and broken as he felt his heart shatter in his chest. He really had ruined _everything_ then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little short, and rough, but I was hurrying to update. I'm hoping to finish this fic before I fly to the UK on the 17th, since I'll be there 3 weeks and I don't think I'll be able to update or write much while I'm there ^^; So hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the next part!
> 
> Sorry to leave it on another cliffhanger~ 
> 
> This is where you can see why I wanted to use this fic as my DCBB, and where I as a writer am realising how much I fucked up in not writing this out several times before posting... I intended to mention Anna's art many more times before this point, but in the excitement of all the other things that happened I just... sort of... forgot. Hopefully that doesn't detract _too_ much from the enjoyment of it ^^; Anyway, I wanted this because I thought it would be cute to have all these lovely drawings of Dean and Cas adoring one another, but I couldn't get my act together to finish it in time. OH WELL NEVER MIND THERE IS ALWAYS NEXT YEAR!
> 
> (And the A/B/O fic I am intending to write for NaNoWriMo *loud winking*)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean heads out for a little reflection, and bumps into another of Cas' old "friends".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for violence! 
> 
> I didn't think it was graphic enough to warrant an Archive Warning, but just in case I have changed it from "No Archive Warnings Apply" to "Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings" on the off chance that others disagree.

Gabriel, Muriel, Sam, and Ruby returned from the arcade a while later bearing stuffed toys and candy, and feeling a lot more like themselves after the whirlwind of drama that had been the night before. Gabriel had finally stopped feeling hungover once Muriel won him a bag of popping candy, and Sam had shown remarkable skill at Dance Dance Revolution despite his size - though he couldn’t hold a candle to small, nimble Ruby, whose feet were a blur as she stamped on the dance pads with enthusiasm. She beat Sam every time, but it was worth it to see her happy face beaming up at him as they both panted and collected their tickets.

Castiel still sat at the kitchen table with his head in his arms, looking for all the world like a beloved family pet had just died and Muriel rushed to his side, throwing her arms around her big brother and hugging him tightly. The others stood around awkwardly, not sure of what to say to comfort him, not sure if he even should be comforted, when Cas’ phone began to vibrate, buzzing across the table like a confused beetle. He ignored it and eventually it ceased.

Sam’s phone rang, then, and he pulled it from his pocket with a frown. The caller ID said ‘Dean’, so he answered it - wondering why his brother was calling him from upstairs.

“Dean?” He said shortly, surprised to hear heavy breathing from the other end of the phone. “Are you okay?”

“No, tell Cas, marina, _Crowley_ ,” Dean panted out and Sam heard faint voices before Dean made a small yelping noise and the phone screeched in his ear loudly before the line went dead.

 

Dean paced around the bedroom, running his fingers through his hair and mumbling to himself as he tried to figure out what to do. He opened the window, desperate for some fresh air, and leaned on the sill as he took great gulps of air and huffed them back out again until he was light headed. He was so screwed. _So completely and utterly screwed_. Cas was never going to want to talk to him again, was already talking about moving out of the apartment. He thought it was _his_ fault, but Dean already knew it was the opposite; Dean could never go back to being just friends with Cas, and _that_ was the problem. He couldn’t even bear the thought of going out there, even just to use the bathroom, in case he bumped into Cas. It would be too hard, now, to walk past him and feign indifference to their relationship, to not touch him, not take him in his arms and kiss him until they were both breathless. He was in love with his best friend, and it _sucked._

Love was supposed to be this amazing thing, his mom always told him so and Sam made being in love with Ruby - which he blatantly was, no matter how he tried to deny it - seem effortless. But for Dean, being in love with Cas was a weight dragging him down into the depths of Hell. He’d _ruined_ his friendship, and even though Cas said he didn’t want to stop being friends with Dean, he knew that Cas would change his mind if Dean ever told him how he felt. And how could he not? If he lied and said he didn’t feel that way for Cas, he would forever have to pretend he wasn’t dreaming of pressing their lips together again, of falling asleep in Cas’ arms or wrapping his own around Cas. And he wasn’t sure he could look at Cas every day and manage that. So he paced the room, growing increasingly more frantic, until he turned to the open window with a sigh.

Climbing out of it was surprisingly easy; Cas’ room was at the front of the house and it was the work of a mere moment to clamber across the sill and onto the small porch roof. From there, dropping to the ground was nothing, even without any shoes on. Dean wished he’d kept his on instead of toeing them off at the door by habit, but it couldn’t be helped. At least he had the Impala’s keys - driving around for a while would help him clear his head, help him decide what to do next. He had to do _something_ , but being trapped in that bedroom was only driving him crazy. He knew the engine would alert whoever was still in the house that he’d left, but that was a price he had to pay. He wasn’t running away, _he wasn’t_ , he just needed some space, some time.

He threw himself into the Impala’s front seat and flicked on the engine, feeling the shudder of the car underneath him and immediately feeling more at ease. He pulled away from the curb and down the street, headed aimlessly for the coast. He wanted to wind the windows down and smell the salty sea air breeze through the car, hoped it might clear some of the cobwebs from his mind.

Dean turned onto the bridge and headed toward the marina; they’d driven past it a few times but never stopped and Dean would be lying if he said he hadn’t been at least vaguely intrigued by the boats moored there and the cargo containers in towering stacks, caged in by write fences plastered with ‘Keep Out!’ signs that he was sure were ignored by local teens. He’d never really been drawn to the coast or anything to do with the ocean, other than the odd brotherly bonding fishing trip with Sammy, but right now he just wanted to do something new, something different, to take his mind off his predicament. He pulled up outside a little mom and pop bait store with brightly colored signs in the window advertising the day’s freshest catch and where was the best place to reel in a big one, but he passed it by after making sure the Impala was locked up tight.

He whistled to himself as he walked along the deck towards where the huge boats were moored, yachts and sailboats of all kinds lined up in neat rows beside fishing boats and little tugs that were barely more than an engine and a cockpit. He dug his hands deep into his pockets as he walked, peering at each boat in turn and marveling at how different each one was from the last until he reached the end of the jetty and turned back. The whole walk from one end to the other had only taken him fifteen minutes, but he was already feeling much better, more clear-headed than he had been all day, and he passed by the bait store once more to take a look at the boats on the other end of the dock.

This side was clearly where the richer people kept their boats, since there were no little fishing boats hiding in small spaces between the grand looking yachts and catamarans tied to huge concrete bulbs that sprouted from the deck like pockmarked mushrooms wound with thick ropes or even wires, in some cases. He whistled in appreciation of the magnificent vehicles, half wishing that there was a marine version of his beloved car that he could take a spin in. He wondered, briefly, if Cas knew anyone who could take them out on a boat, before that train of thought was halted in an instant and his mood soured once more. He wasn’t even sure if Cas would want to _talk_ to him anymore, let alone treat him to a trip out to sea on a yacht. Dean kicked sullenly at a pebble and watched it skitter away and down through a crack between two planks to fall in the water with a quiet _plop_.

An hour of looking at boats had helped, and then it hadn’t.

Dean leaned against the Impala for a while, staring out at the strip of ocean visible between the buildings of the marina. Warehouses loaded with goods to be shipped out or on their way to stores in the city to be sold, for the most part, with the occasional cafe or boating shop interspersed at seemingly random intervals. Miami was a rich city, Dean figured, so of course people would come down here often for coffee and to look at the boats. He was probably lucky it was so quiet today, but most of the people who were interested in boating were probably out at sea right now, and those left behind would likely gather at times when they were more likely to see the boats in action rather than tied to the dock. He had no idea why people would be interested in watching them move over studying them up close, but he shrugged to himself at the thought and almost made a mental note to ask Cas, before crashing back to the reality that he wasn’t even sure Cas was talking to him right now.

And here he was again feeling sorry for himself, so much for the sea air doing him good. He pushed away from the car, the shiny black paint growing hot in the summer sun, and walked away from the docks towards the big fenced area where he could see shipping containers stacked like oversized Legos. He managed a short chuckle at the thought of some giant stepping on one, and how it would howl in pain and thunder about. Another thought to share with Cas, if he ever spoke to him again. The fence was high, and Dean squinted up at it appraisingly before taking a few steps back as he judged the distance.

“Ready? Let’s go.” Dean muttered under his breath before taking a running leap and launching himself at the wire mesh, scrambling up it and swinging his legs over the top before letting his top half follow his feet. He landed on both feet solidly and smirked at thin air, lifting his arms as if he were a gymnast completing a perfect routine to an audience. The ridicule he got from four years of cheerleading in high school had been worth it for the skills he’d picked up - not to mention some of the best sex of his life with bendy cheerleaders after winning games, and not all of them from his own team.

With a nonchalant whistle, shoving his hands deep in his pockets, Dean began to saunter among the huge containers like he belonged there, inspecting one here and there for identifying marks and trying to work out what they meant, while also trying to figure out which country each container was from based solely on the company name printed on the site.

“The fuck is _Sealand_ anyway?” He mumbled, staring up at a Maersk container with a frown before shrugging and moving on.

He’d managed to wander about halfway across the lot when a low whistle caught his attention and he looked around for the source, a flicker of concern that it was a security guard or other watchman patrolling who had seen him wandering and was coming to arrest him. As he turned around, he looked up and down and finally saw a short, stout man step into the walkway from an alley between two containers.

“Uh… Hey,” Dean said hesitantly, taking a couple of steps forward, “I uh, how’s it going?” He tried to think fast, make up some excuse for being here, but he was clearly too young to be an employee and had changed into jeans and a graphic tee after breakfast, at Sammy’s insistence, so he didn’t even look like a slightly rumpled Man From Corporate. Before he could come up with anything, the other guy smiled and walked closer, hands tucked nonchalantly in his pockets as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Hello,” he said in a clipped English accent, “no giant moose with you today? Or that pesky little pansy with his black belt?” His tone was mocking and Dean felt goosepimples rise up in a wave on his skin before the man continued. “You really ought to know better than to drive such a… _distinctive_ vehicle. Loud, too. You can always hear a car like that a mile away, and guess the direction it’s headed just by that.” The man was walking towards Dean with a nonchalant swagger, but he _oozed_ menace like it was a tangible thing, and Dean fought the urge to step backwards and show weakness.

“Hey, always happy to meet a fan of the wheels,” he tried, dragging up some confidence from somewhere deep inside, “I’d offer to take you for a spin but gas ain’t cheap and she’s a guzzler. Plus there’s no a/c, yanno, and it gets mighty hot in her on a day like this,” he offered a half grin and a conspiratorial wink, as though they were buddies having a normal conversation rather than… whatever this was.

The other man’s lip curled in distaste, as though he had a foul smell under his nose. “I wouldn’t want to travel in that beast anyway, even were the option on offer. No, I have a very different reason for being interested in the location of the blasted thing.” He gave another whistle and then raised his voice suddenly in a sing-song tone. “Oh _bo_ -oys!”

Dean’s heart fell to his stomach as he heard footsteps from behind him; it didn’t take a genius like Sam to realize this was the Crowley guy Cas had been talking about, and most likely Alastair and his goons were behind him, waiting for him to make a sudden move so they could attack. It hadn’t been that long since their last confrontation, but so much had happened in the last couple of weeks that Dean had completely forgotten about the bullies plaguing this part of town. Not only that, but he had expected them to stay in their usual haunt - the beach - and hadn’t reckoned on them showing up elsewhere, nor credited them with enough intelligence to keep an eye out for his car. For the first time in his life he had a flash of desire to drive a nice, safe, _common_ vehicle, then immediately felt guilty for the thought. It wasn’t Baby’s fault he was in this mess, after all.

“Well how-dee,” Dean said, turning around on the spot to gauge his opponents and look out for any viable escape routes, deliberately laying it on with his accent, “ain’t this a nice party. If you’d sent me an invite I’d have brought a six pack,” he flashed Alastair a toothy grin before turning back to Crowley. “What did I do to get so lucky that y’all came all this way out here.” Inwardly he winced, he wasn’t sure he’d ever heard anyone in Lawrence say “y’all,” but he figured these dudes had probably never been out of Miami and wouldn’t know Kansas from Texas, or anywhere else for that matter.

“Don’t get cute, squirrel, or we’ll have to show you what we do with poofs like you around here.”

Dean only had the dangerous flash of Crowley’s eyes and his almost imperceptible glance over Dean’s shoulder to warn him, and he let his knees buckle under him, dropping under the fist that would otherwise have sucker punched him and likely knocked his lights out. He swore under his breath and jammed his elbow up and backwards, smirking when he felt it connect with something soft and heard Thug #1’s strangled sound of pain as the breath was knocked out of him. Before any of the others had a chance to react, Dean was on his feet and hurtling towards Crowley, who sprang to the side in surprise, not expecting Dean to rush him rather than dealing with the more imminent threat behind him. His surprise turned to a howl of rage as Dean dodged past him with a bright grin and dashed down the very alley between the shipping containers that Crowley had stepped out of.

“What the fuck are you waiting for?!” He heard the Englishman roar at the others before he heard the scrambling of footsteps starting their pursuit.

He skidded out into another thoroughfare and tore up it, moving away from the entrance instead of towards it - hoping to throw them off by doing anything that might be unexpected - and then slipping down the side of another stack of huge metal crates. This one was narrower and he couldn’t move quite as fast - but on the bright side they would have to check each one before they found him, and would then be just as slowed down as he was. Assuming they didn’t have the intelligence to simply run around to the other side, and Dean silently prayed that Crowley was the brains of the outfit. He didn’t seem like the type to go running around, preferring confrontation that allowed him to keep a safe distance and not dirty his own hands. Finally, just as he heard a yell echo down the alley as they spotted him and began to follow, he managed to slip out of the other end and took off running again.

The sun was relentless, beating down on Dean whenever he burst out into the wide thoroughfares designed for the enormous trucks that carted the containers to and from their ships or their destinations. Before long he was sweating and panting as he took a winding route between containers, even occasionally hauling himself up onto one and creeping along from above as he narrowly evaded his pursuers. He had gotten completely turned around and wasn’t entirely sure which direction was the exit any more, so he was trying to just go in a vaguely straight line in the hopes of finding either the fence or the sea, but there were four of them and only one of him so every time he felt like he was making progress they would head him off and he’d have to scurry through a series of alleys to put some distance between them again. Soon Dean had to stop and take a break, hoping that the other guys were as tired out as he was as he wiped his the sweat from his face with the hem of his t-shirt. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he dialed Cas and held the phone to his ear, moving on again as he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

“C’mon, c’mon, pick up Cas, pick up,” he muttered, the footsteps receding behind him, to his relief.

“The person you have dialed is unavailable, to leave a message for - I don’t understand, why do you want me to say my name - please speak after the be-“

Dean hung up and muttered a curse under his breath, hitting Sam’s speed dial and silently hoping his brother wasn’t too distracted doing whatever he was doing with Ruby, Gabriel and Muriel to hear his phone ring. He heard a muttered swear from surprisingly close and bolted again, annoyed they’d gotten so close while he was concentrating on trying to call for help.

“Dean?” Sam answered the phone, and Dean huffed a breath in relief, “are you okay?”

“No, tell Cas, marina, Crowley,” Dean said in between pants as he began to run, spotting Thug #2 emerging from behind a shipping container far too close for comfort before a heavy body thudded into him and he yelped loudly as his phone was knocked from his hand and shattered against the floor.

 

Cas was up and out of his chair before Sam had even finished relaying Dean’s words, grabbing Gabriel’s keys from his hand as he passed and yanking open the front door. He turned back to the others with an annoyed expression.

“Well? Come on if you’re coming, I’m not waiting,” he said tersely, then disappeared out through the door, leaving it open behind him.

Sam and Ruby exchanged a look and then scrambled to follow him.

“Dammit,” Gabriel cursed, looking between his sixteen year old sister and the open door.

“I’ll be fine alone, if you wanna go,” she said, knowing she would be less than useless if it came to a fight. Gabriel only huffed and sank down into a chair.

“Nah, there oughta be someone here when mom and dad get back - someone more than you to explain everything, I mean, and they might need someone to pick them up or call the cops if any of them get hurt… no point all of us risking ourselves, right?” He knew it was the smart, logical decision, but knowing his brother’s best friend, even if they weren’t really boyfriends, was potentially being hurt by the kids who’d made Castiel’s life hell in school and he couldn’t do anything about it still stung.

 

Sam sat in the back of Gabe’s little Mazda with Ruby, his foot bouncing impatiently as Cas gunned it down the freeway, taking the corners at a frightening speed that made even Ruby look a little green and grip his knee for support. He could see her other hand slide down her leg and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought that she was checking for the knife she kept hidden there. It had become a habit for the rebellious girl after one too many scraps after her last stint in juvie; her old ‘friends’ hadn’t quite understood her sudden desire to go straight and she’d been forced to defend herself far too often for Sam’s liking.

They pulled up beside the Impala with a screech and Cas threw himself from the vehicle, leaving the keys in the ignition and taking off across the parking lot towards the fenced in area where the shipping containers were kept. If he knew Crowley’s MO - and he did - he would undoubtedly have waited for Dean somewhere inside there, using the maze of containers to his advantage to surprise his prey and corner him, and he somehow couldn’t see them managing the same thing out on the docks where there might be boats coming in that would see what they were doing.

Sam and Ruby followed quickly behind, Sam yanking the keys from the car and clicking the remote lock before they caught up to Cas as he reached the fence. They couldn’t climb over it easily themselves, but Sam managed to boost Cas and Ruby over, his height a massive advantage in that area, before scrambling up the wire mesh and practically throwing himself over the top, stumbling as he landed with a grunt. Again, Cas had already taken off and Sam sighed and rolled his eyes at Ruby before they followed his winding route as best he could.

Every now and again Cas would stop, giving Sam and Ruby a chance to almost catch up with him, with his head held high as if sniffing the air like a dog before he tilted it this way and that, furthering the mental image Sam was rapidly getting from him, and then hurrying off again in a seemingly random direction. Eventually, Sam heard a noise that sounded like voices and he felt relief wash over him as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the collar of his t-shirt. It sounded like they were closing in on Dean, and before long Cas had disappeared around a corner with Ruby close behind.

He had to stop his jaw from falling open in horror at the scene that greeted him as he followed; his brother was being held tightly by two fierce looking guys - one of whom was sporting a nasty black eye and the other was favoring his right leg - while Alastair threw punch after punch to his torso, all watched impassively by a short, black haired guy off to one side.

Cas gave a strangled cry and leapt for Alastair, throwing in a few punches of his own before the slimmer man turned and began to fight back. One of the thugs let go of Dean’s arm and he slumped in the hold of the other before dropping completely to the ground as the second thug joined in the melee. The first, a smaller guy, went for Ruby, only to spring backwards with a cry of pain. Sam caught the flash of metal and a splatter of blood as Ruby slashed at the guy’s arm, teeth bared in a fierce grimace. The other guy tried to join in attacking Cas, but Sam put one huge hand on his shoulder and pulled him off, spinning him around and meeting the guy’s face with one meaty fist. The guy dropped like a sack of bricks and Sam turned his attention to the smug asshole standing by and watching the rest of them fight.

“ _You_ ,” Sam snarled, taking a step towards him menacingly, using his height and bulk to its full extent as he approached. But the smug guy just stood there with a small smile on his face until Cas broke apart from Alastair as the thug attacking Ruby screeched and began to flee, leaving a small trail of blood behind from the wounds he’d received from her wicked knife.

“What are you going to do?” Smug-face said in a blithe tone, “if you attack me I’ll have you arrested. My family own this whole place,” he turned around, stretching his arms wide to indicate the shipyard around them, “so you know I’ll come out on top. Castiel,” he said in a mock-friendly way, as if he and Cas were old buddies, “did you _really_ think this was going to end well for you?”

Sam took another step forward but Cas sprang ahead, the smaller man’s light feet and martial arts training taking over as he closed the distance between himself and Crowley in a heartbeat and Alastair’s jaw dropped in shock as Cas quickly pulled Crowley into a tight headlock. The Englishman made a strangled sound and flailed his arms, but Cas only held on tighter until all he could do was claw weakly at his bare arm, drawing faint streaks of blood with his fingernails.

“You know what, Crowley?” Cas said in a dangerous voice. “I don’t think it’ll matter what you say or do, there’s no getting out of this. I know for a fact that there are cameras outside of here that your family _can’t_ tamper with, and that your boys are plenty banged up enough that they’ll throw you to the dogs without a second’s thought if it’ll save their own sorry hides. Even Alastair,” Cas nodded towards the slender man, who was edging away while the focus wasn’t on him until Sam grabbed his wrist and squeezed it hard enough for the bones to creak, “can’t possibly expect to take on all three of us even with your family’s so called _protection_. If word gets out that their precious son is attacking innocent vacationers they’ll have no choice but to take action, and I’m certain that Dean’s appearance on a couple of local news stations would have people sitting up and taking notice.”

Crowley had gone pale, his eyes wide and flicking from Sam to Alastair to Ruby, since he couldn’t look at Cas while in his grip. It clearly hadn’t occurred to him before that the very thing that had protected him thus far could potentially be his downfall as well. A corporation as large as his father’s couldn’t risk bad press that showed them in a bad light. If supporting his son could cause harm to his company, Crowley was sure he would be thrown to the hounds in the blink of an eye so as to prevent his father losing business from wealthy clients, many of whom surely had homosexual sons or daughters of their own. Their vast fortune would be lost to him, his inheritance withdrawn, even if he didn’t end up in prison he would at the least be destitute, and forced to find his own way in the world without their assistance and support. He gulped nervously and ceased scrabbling at Cas’ arm, self preservation winning over his desire to cause harm to others.

“Pathetic maggot,” Alastair sneered, his teeth bloodied by a blow from his fight with Cas, clearly unimpressed by how easily Crowley was cowed.

“If you’re so eager to go to jail, Alastair, I’m more than happy to facilitate your speedy incarceration,” Crowley spat as Cas released him. “In fact, I will happily ensure you take the blame for all of this, since you were seen by many people harassing Castiel and his lover at the beach, then Moose over here,” he nodded towards Sam, “and loverboy on another occasion. Don’t think you’re free from all consequences, if I’m to take any blame I assure you that yours will be tenfold.”

Alastair spat on the ground and twisted swiftly out of Sam’s grip, lunging for Cas with his arms outstretched and fingers curled into claws as if to strangle the life from him. A blur shot past Cas from behind and before anyone else could move Alastair was on the floor, knocked out cold as Dean stood over him, breathing heavily from exertion and nursing his bloodied fist.

“Don’t you even think about laying another finger on Cas you fuckin’ asshole,” he said thickly, swaying on his feet before Sam hurried to his side to help prop him up.

“Dean…” Cas said softly, stepping forward and reaching out to him, but Dean turned his back and stumbled away, leaning heavily on Sam as he limped out of sight.

Cas couldn’t hold in his sigh of distress at the obvious rejection from Dean, even though the man had called him to his aid when he was in trouble. He supposed old habits died hard. Ruby reached out and squeezed his arm sympathetically, before hurrying off to help her boyfriend with his brother.

“Trouble in paradise?” Crowley asked with a cocked eyebrow and Cas turned to glare at him sharply.

“I am still not entirely sure I shouldn’t beat the living wits from you for what you did today, Crowley. Don’t push my good will.” Cas growled and Crowley held his hands up in surrender, letting him walk away without another word. Cas had no desire to deal with Alastair or Crowley any more, and he hoped that the threat of Crowley’s father or his corporation finding out that his son’s friends routinely went around attacking innocent people at his son’s command was enough to ensure they wouldn’t be troubled again.

 

When he finally made it back to his car, Cas was only moderately surprised to see Ruby leaning against it waiting for him. The Impala was nowhere in sight and Cas guessed Sam had taken it, and Dean, back to his parents house to be patched up. He half wished Sam was taking Dean to a hospital, but if he knew his friend at all he knew that Dean would insist that he was fine and that a few band-aids would be plenty good enough for him. That, and a fifth of whiskey and some time lazing in front of the TV, that is.

Ruby nodded to Cas and got in the car once he unlocked it, allowing the silence to stretch for the entire time they were traveling. As soon as they arrived and Cas had shut off the car, she turned to him with a determined look on her face.

“Don’t let this all come between you guys, Cas. If you want to make things right, you gotta do something. Don’t… just don’t give up, okay?”

Before Cas could reply she jumped out of the car and hopped up the steps, leaving him staring after her with a look of utter bewilderment, and a feeling that he’d just missed something vitally important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG IT HAS TAKEN ME TO UPDATE. I have had so much on I just haven't had time to write. 
> 
> As always, any errors are entirely mine as this is unbeta'd (and I finished the last part of the chapter about 15 minutes ago...)
> 
> I hope nobody minds Dean being a former cheerleader, I just absolutely love the idea that he would do the randomest stuff to get chicks, and knowing Jensen was a cheerleader is something that has just stuck with me. 
> 
> I doubt I'll get another update done before the end of the week, it will probably be after I get back from the UK now. But I'll try to find time to work on it as much as possible and will update whenever I'm done instead of waiting for a Friday/Saturday as I have done with this one.
> 
> I really wanna get this finished asap though, since I've got NaNoWriMo rapidly approaching and that has a tendency to suck my writing time right up >.>
> 
> Let me know what you enjoyed if you enjoyed, and sorry again! <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam takes care of Dean's injuries, and Dean gets an unexpected phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for how long it took for me to get this chapter out to you! My sister had a baby this week so everything has been frantic, and I'm also trying to work on NaNo so argh! So much to do, so little time. 
> 
> Apologies that this is a very short chapter, but the next one will be up soon since I know where I'm going with it - hopefully you won't have to wait too long!

Dean let Sam maneuver him into the Impala, not even complaining about getting blood on the seats. His feet were covered in cuts from running on the hard asphalt of the shipping lot and scrabbling with his attackers, so he tucked them up on the leather seat rather than let blood soak into the mat. He remained silent while Sam drove him back to the Miltons’ place, not even once commenting on the fact that Sam hadn’t had much experience driving and had only had his license for six months. Sam kept shooting his older brother worried glances, but wisely remained silent. Dean would talk when he wanted to, or not at all, but now wasn’t the time to press him.

They pulled up and Sam helped Dean limp into the house then lifted him and carried him bodily up the stairs to the bathroom. Dean protested weakly, but the relief at taking his weight off his shredded feet was greater than his pride, and he didn’t want to get blood on the carpet besides. Seating his brother on the edge of the bath, Sam turned on the water and rummaged in the medicine cupboard for disinfectant and first aid supplies.

“Well, that sucked,” Dean said eventually, leaning against the wall as the warm water lapped over his feet. He had rolled his jeans up to his knees, but Sam knew they’d have to come off before he could assess the full extent of Dean’s injuries. Tugging Dean’s shirt off, he tossed it into the corner and winced as he saw the scrapes and the bruises beginning to blossom under his skin, large purple and red welts littering his torso.

“You look like a pinata,” Sam quipped, trying for a little light heartedness to improve Dean’s mood, “what, you didn’t give up your candy quick enough?”

Dean laughed hollowly before wincing as Sam took hold of his ankle and began to gently clean the grit, dirt and blood off with a wet cloth. 

“Man, if you guys hadn’t shown up when you did…” Dean’s voice was grim. “I thought… they were gonna… They weren’t stopping, Sam,” he took a long, shuddering breath and Sam kept his gaze focused on his brother’s feet so Dean wouldn’t be embarrassed at his moment of weakness. “I really thought I was a gonner,” his voice was almost a whisper and Dean shut his eyes against the burning behind them, his fear and relief threatening to overwhelm him. 

 

Cas leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the warm leather of the steering wheel, his mind in turmoil as he thought about what he was going to say to Dean. He had hoped that Ruby would be more forthcoming with conversation during the trip back, if only to keep his mind off what had just happened - what _might_ have happened - to Dean, but she had just stayed silent the whole way apart from her little outburst right at the end. And what did she mean by that, exactly? He wasn’t letting anything come between him and Dean, not really. He just knew he’d messed up and there wasn’t much he could really do to change that now. He knew Dean was only trying to help him, had been pretending to be something he’s _not_ all for Castiel’s benefit, and he’d thrown it back in his face like it meant nothing to him. His heart ached at the thought of losing his best friend, especially over something so avoidable. All he could think was a torrent of “if only”’s; if only he hadn’t drunk so much at the party, if only he’d allowed Dean to dance with him the way he wanted to - it wasn’t exactly unenjoyable, only strange, if only he had been able to understand his own feelings before Dean ran off… the list went on and on. With all the drama of the last few hours, he’d all but forgotten about his mother’s sketchbook, returning instead to the anxiety and fear from before. He’d rejected Dean, pushed him away, driven him to _jump out of the damn window_ and then allowed him to roam around and get attacked by the childhood bullies he should have dealt with long before today. Never mind that he had managed to find him at the last minute, he hadn’t even really been able to save him.

He was so lost in his thoughts, slowly roasting in the car now that the air conditioning had been turned off, that he didn’t notice the person coming down the steps towards him until he was startled out of his reverie by a sharp tapping on the passenger side window. Looking up, he saw his sister smiling sadly at him through the window, and he got out of the car to talk to her.

“Muriel, are you okay?” He asked, concerned by her expression.

“I’m fine, I’m just worried about you and Dean… Mom said you were going to try working things out, but he’d gone out… and then you were moping around all day, and then you ran off with Sam and Ruby… And now you’re sitting in the car instead of helping your boyfriend out when he’s all beat up. Cas, he looks terrible. Sam’s doing his best, but I’m sure he’d feel better if you were there…” she trailed off as Cas looked down at the ground, scuffing his feet like a scolded child.

“I don’t think Dean wants to see me very much right now,” he said quietly, “and I’m sure you’re aware of the situation as it stands now… Dean isn’t my boyfrien-“ 

Muriel cut him off with a derisive snort and closed the distance between them quickly, reaching up to flick her brother’s ear sharply. 

“Don’t be stupid, Castiel,” she said sharply, “nobody can fake that sort of affection. You might not realise it, but that guy’s head over heels for you. We all knew it before you even came here, the way you two act we figured it was only a matter of time before you got your act together. So don’t be stupid and go to him!” 

Before he had a chance to object, she grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him, and gave him a hard little shove that sent him stumbling towards the steps of the house. He looked back with a frown but she just stared at him with a determined expression, folding her arms and tapping her foot in a manner so reminiscent of their mother that Cas was moving to walk up the steps before he could object, instinctively obeying her wordless instructions. 

 

Dean lay on the bed in Sam’s room - Cas’ brother Michael’s room, really - and stared at the ceiling. He couldn’t bear going back into Cas’ room and lying on the bed they’d shared since they arrived, he wasn’t even entirely sure that he would be able to sleep there tonight, even though it wouldn’t really be fair to make Sam move out of the single room and sleep either with Cas or down on the couch. His whole body ached from his injuries and his feet were swollen and sore, the mere thought of getting up to move around made them throb in protest and he gave such a loud sigh he almost missed the faint, tentative tap on the bedroom door. Throwing his arm over his eyes he took a deep breath to calm himself before calling for the person knocking to come in.

“Dean…” Cas’ deep voice caught him off guard; Dean had been expecting Sam or possibly Ruby, coming in to lecture him about talking to Cas, or being so reckless as to go off on his own - without shoes on no less - or just to interrupt him when he wanted nothing but to be alone. 

“Cas?” He bolted upright then groaned and winced as his head span at the sudden rush of pain from the various cuts and bruises that littered his body. Sam had cleaned off the worst of the blood, both dried and fresh, but he was still battered and bruised. He risked a glance at Cas and saw the other man’s face drop in shock before it returned to a carefully schooled expression.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you Dean, if I had only…” Cas trailed off, no longer able to meet Dean’s eyes and looking sheepishly around his brother’s room.

“Don’t sweat it, man,” Dean answered, lying back down carefully and waving a hand as if he was feeling fine, “it’s not your fault those jackasses get their kicks from picking on other people.”

“Perhaps not, but it’s still my fault. I drove you away, for a start, and I shouldn’t have let them go so easily the last time we had an altercation with them. I shouldn’t have allowed things to get this bad, or let them believe they could get away with what they have been doing to more people than just you and I for many years.” There was sadness and a quiet fury in Cas’ voice; sadness that Dean had to suffer for his cowardice and anger that anyone thought that beating up others was okay. 

“It’s not your fault at all, and you didn’t drive me away. I just… I needed some fresh air, I couldn’t…” Dean sighed heavily again, squeezing his eyes shut so he had an excuse not to look at Cas. “I just didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable, and I needed to be on my own for a bit. I had no idea that those guys would follow me, or that they would attack me, and neither did you. Even if me heading out _was_ your fault, which it wasn’t by the way, their actions have nothing to do with you so just… stop saying it’s your fault, okay?”

“I’m still sorry, Dean,” Cas said quietly, sitting down cross-legged on the floor near the door, not wanting to stand over Dean and not wanting to leave either. “And even if you don’t think it was my fault, I can’t help but feel that I started all of this, and that you would be perfectly fine if only I hadn’t-“

“Dammit Cas!” Dean sat up, ignoring the way the room span and fixing the Cas shaped blur with an angry glare. “Cut it out. If you’re just going to be like that I’d rather be alone.” With that said, he lay back down and rolled over so that most of his body was facing away from Cas. Curling up, he tried to shut out the sound of Cas getting up and leaving, shutting the door quietly behind him and leaving Dean, once again, all alone. 

It wasn’t fair, really. All he wanted was to grab Cas and hold him until they both felt better, but he knew that door was firmly closed and it wasn’t fair of him to want to use the guilt Cas was obviously feeling to draw him closer. It was selfish and wrong and he knew he needed to just put all of that behind him and try to get through the rest of the holiday as best he could without making things any worse. 

Dean closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his body, particularly the ache that seemed to insistently throb in his chest, but it wasn’t long before a piercing noise was assaulting his ears; of course, he couldn’t even have five minutes to relax, just five minutes, before something else went wrong. He sat up blindly, wondering if it was the fire alarm or something else, until he realised he recognised the sound. _His cellphone_. Irritated, he groped around on the floor where it must have fallen while he was lying on the bed, until he found it and answered it.

“‘Lo?” He managed to mumble.

“Dean?” A familiar voice brought him back to reality, back to full wakefulness, within moments.

“ _Mom?”_ Not that he wasn’t glad to hear from his mother, he always was, but it was weird for her to be calling him in the middle of the day like this. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand and was surprised to see it was actually late afternoon, nearly time for dinner - and his stomach noisily reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since the party. 

“Hi Dean!” She answered brightly, using her ‘I am just a friend calling her buddy’ voice. “How’s your vacation going?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, flopping back down onto the bed, “Miami’s pretty awesome.” It was hard to keep his voice level, hard to fake the happiness she was obviously hoping to hear.

“That’s great! And thank you so much for letting Sam and Ruby come visit you; I know you’re not fond of Ruby but it’s really nice to get them out of Kansas once in a while, and let your dad and I have a vacation too. I know they really appreciate it, it was all Sam could talk about for the last couple days they were here.”

“No sweat, mom, and Ruby’s alright I guess. She’s not as crazy as she used to be…” It was weird, talking to his mom like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t been beaten to within an inch of consciousness mere hours ago. 

“I’m so glad you’re warming up to her, Dean,” Mary sounded relieved, “she’s really not that bad once you get to know her. You know your dad and I were worried at first too, but she seems like she’s really trying to change.” 

“Yeah, looks like it,” he actually managed a half smile, thinking of how Ruby seemed to adore Sam so much. “Guess Samsquatch has his uses then, if he can straighten someone like her out.” 

Dean and his mother laughed, like it was some private joke the two of them were sharing, and Dean felt a little of the weight on his chest lifting. Talking to his mother always seemed to make the worst of his troubles seem less serious, and on the rare occasion he actually talked to her about them she always seemed to have an answer for everything.

“And how’s Cas? Is he enjoying being home for once? I spoke to Sam a couple of days ago and said Gabriel can be a bit overbearing but that Cas’ family are really nice. Maybe next year the four of you - and maybe some of Cas’ family - could come here for summer vacation? It would be really nice to get to know them a bit, outside of the few times we’ve passed on our way to or from visiting you boys!” 

Mary prattled on and Dean felt his heart squeeze, the weight returning firmly as she began talking about the things they could do in Lawrence and the surrounding areas, the places Dean and Sam could take Cas and his family. He just didn’t have the heart to tell her that Cas probably wouldn’t be hanging around much once school started up again, let alone spending the next year’s vacation with them. 

“Sounds great, mom,” Dean managed weakly, and Mary stopped talking instantly, her maternal instincts firing as she caught the less than enthusiastic response from her oldest son. 

“What’s wrong, honey? What happened? Did you and Cas have a fight?” She sounded concerned and Dean took a long, shuddering breath. Tears suddenly sprang to his eyes without warning and threatened to overwhelm him. This was ridiculous, Dean Winchester does _not_ cry over stupid things like this. 

“Kind of,” he said quietly, feeling an undeniable urge to tell his mother everything and - for once - he gave in to the urge. Letting the dam break, Dean felt the tears begin to slide down his face, often pooling uncomfortably in the shell of his ears, as he told his mom the whole story from the day Cas got home with the news that his mom was expecting him to bring home a partner for the holiday, to Dean sending Cas out of the room not long before her call. 

“I don’t know what to do, mom; I never meant to actually end up _liking_ the guy, it was just meant to be a bit of harmless fun to help him out, but I really… I do like him and I don’t wanna lose him as a friend because of my own stupidity and-“ he broke off suddenly, sitting up on the bed on full alert and pulling the phone away from his ear so he could listen better.

“Dean? Dean? Are you there honey? Dean? Talk to me!” Mary sounded almost frantic; she’d stayed quiet while her son explained his situation, knowing it would help him to get everything off his chest before she tried to give him advice, and his sudden silence worried her.

“Mom? I gotta… I gotta call you back.” Before she could object, Dean hung up the phone and turned the sound off, listening in awe to what was going on on the other side of the bedroom door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I love to hear what you think - even if I don't always get to reply to comments in a timely manner! I'm hoping that as the summer draws in I will have more time to write, even if I am dying from the heat XD
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has stuck with me up until now, I really appreciate all of your support! We are nearing the end of this work, but there should be a few more chapters to go ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what made Dean hang up on his mom, and Dean and Cas _finally_ have a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got your toothbrushes ready? Floss? Sugar-free everything for the rest of the week? Dentist appointment pre-booked?
> 
> Alright, here we go.
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to FoxInDocs <3

Cas closed the door, leaving Dean alone in his brother’s room, and swallowed the whimper that he felt bubbling up in his throat. Dean was really mad, really hurt and upset, and just didn’t want him around. Of _course_ he didn’t want Cas around, why should he? It was all Cas’ fault… He made his way downstairs with a dejected air, pausing in the doorway of the kitchen where his siblings and his guests were apparently in the middle of a conversation. The four of them stopped as soon as they saw him in the doorway and looked guiltily at each other. Ah, they had been talking about _him_ then, or at least the situation with Dean.

“How did it go?” Muriel finally ventured, gently. The four of them had been discussing ways to nudge their boneheaded friends to sort their problems out. It was plain for them as outsiders to see the problem and consider possible resolutions, but getting the two of _them_ to see it was a whole different ball game. 

“How do you think?” Cas snapped, suddenly angry. “He kicked me out and he doesn’t want to see me, so how the hell do you think it went, Muriel?” 

Muriel exchanged a look with the others and she shared an eye roll with Ruby. 

“There’s no need to snap at her, Cas,” Sam said, “we’re just concerned for you, that’s all.”

“Yeah,” Ruby agreed, “did he actually say he doesn’t want to see you, or are you just inferring that from something else? I mean… I don’t know you guys well at all, but it seems to me like your communication skills are pretty awful.” 

Sam raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend but she just shrugged; he’d known when he entered a relationship with her that she could be pretty blunt at times so he had no place calling her out on it now. Besides, as far as she was concerned all this tip toeing around the issue was what had caused half the problems in the first place.

“Listen,” she continued, since nobody else stepped in to fill the void of silence, “Dean and I were talking last night, and he said some stuff that makes me think maybe it’s not that he never wants to see you again that’s the problem here. I figure the problem is actually that he _does_ want to see you again, maybe more than before - if that’s even possible, since you already live together. 

“You’re both idiots. He wants you. You want him. You both think the other wants nothing to do with him. It’s stupid and pointless and I swear to god if I wasn’t a guest in your house I’d drag you up there and crack both your heads together, you stupid dumb idiot! I’ve half a mind to drag you up there anyway and lock you both in that room ‘till you get this shit figured out. Cause let me tell ya, Cas, I’ve known Dean a pretty long time, even though we were never friends, and I know he had a pretty big rep back in school for having this string of sighing girls after him. I’ve never seen him without a chick on his arm, Cas, not ever, and I’ve never, _ever_ seen him look at a girl, heck at _anyone_ the way he looks at you. 

“You guys might not realise it, but you’re crazy about each other. Probably were before all this but just hadn’t realised it. Maybe the reason Dean’s single now, the reason you don’t have ‘time’,” she made air quotes, mimicking Cas’ usual mannerism, “for dating is because you already _have_ each other. You’re already fulfilling that role in each other’s life. And don’t try to tell me you haven’t noticed that Dean comes home alone more often than not nowadays, and you can’t pretend you think he’s lucking out - looking like that? _Puh-lease_.” She stopped her tirade suddenly, as if realising that she’d been talking aloud and her face colored. “I’m going for a smoke,” she said suddenly, stalking out of the house before anyone could say anything.

Sam watched her go and seemed to bob in her direction then Cas’, clearly trying to decide whether to stay and keep trying to clear up his brother’s mess, or to follow her despite his distaste for her smoking habit. 

“She’s right, y’know,” he said finally, before fleeing the room to find his girlfriend.

Cas looked at his brother and sister, a dark look on his face. “I suppose the two of you agree with them?” He asked venomously.

“Well…” They exchanged a look. “Listen Cassie, we’re not stupid and we’re not blind. We know this arrangement was meant to be just innocent to you guys, but I swear that it didn’t look that way to us. Nobody, and I _mean_ nobody, is that good an actor. Not even professionals could pull off that level of affection with someone they felt absolutely nothing for. So just… think about what Ruby said, and…” Gabriel trailed off, not sure where else to go with his sentence, but Muriel stepped in and quickly continued for him.

“Just communicate with him. You don’t necessarily have to do it with words, y’know. But just communicate with him somehow, okay? Don’t let your pride or self-destructive tendencies keep you apart.” 

Cas stared at them both for a long moment, before turning on his toe and leaving the room, taking the stairs two at a time to get back up to his room, where he slammed the door and threw himself down on his bed.

It was the closest thing to a tantrum he’d had since his teens, and if he hadn’t been so mad he might have felt a little ashamed of himself. Who were they to tell him what to do? What right did they have to tell him how he felt? None at all, that’s what. It was none of their business and they should just leave him alone. So what if his feelings for Dean were different than what he thought? There’s no way Dean felt the same way, especially now he’d been thoroughly beaten by Crowley and his goons. He lay on his bed and moped, rolling onto the side Dean had been occupying for the last couple of weeks and letting himself wallow in self-pity, surrounded by Dean’s scent. Even his mom had been hassling him, and what was with her drawing them all the time? I mean, that had to be a huge invasion of privacy right there, didn’t it? 

Remembering the drawings, Cas couldn’t stop a smile crossing his face at one of the images that sprang to mind. It was a fairly normal setting, really, considering some of the other pictures Anna had drawn. Just the two of them on the couch, reading different books, with Dean’s feet tucked comfortably under Cas’ leg. It reminded him of the day they’d decided to put on this crazy act, when he’d done the same thing to Dean. Okay, they were watching TV and not reading, but the sentiment was the same. His heart thudded painfully in his chest at the thought of not being able to do that with Dean again. He didn’t even need the hand holding and the kissing or the sharing a bed; what really hurt most was the fact that he was losing a _companion_ , not just a guy who wanted to jump his bones. 

No. This wouldn’t do. He couldn’t let his own stubbornness or Dean’s drive them apart. Cas launched himself across his room, a sudden blur of motion, and yanked open the door to his closet. He rummaged inside until he found what he was looking for and then brandished it at himself in the mirror triumphantly. His expression was a little crazed, but that didn’t matter. All Cas cared about was doing this, doing _something_ , to tell Dean how much he cared about him, and how he wasn’t going to let this be the end of their friendship. Even if Dean didn’t want to see him right now, he needed to know, and Cas had an idea of just how he could tell him.

He was at the door to Michael’s bedroom in mere seconds, hovering and shifting nervously from foot to foot. How did it go again? Did he even remember how to do this? He took a deep breath, slung the guitar strap over his shoulder, and winced at the first tuneless strum. 

The guitar had been in his closet since he went away to college; despite his parents insistence he hadn’t taken it with him, citing that he would have far too little time to play while he was studying. As a result, it was quite a bit out of tune, but not enough that Cas had a hard time telling where the notes were meant to be, or altering his chords to suit. He didn’t have time to tune the instrument right now, so he hoped this would do. 

_“Hey Jude,”_ he sang, frowning in concentration as the unfamiliar melody came back to him from hearing Dean humming it to him whenever he was feeling miserable or sick. 

_Don’t make it bad_  
 _Take a sad song and make it better_  
 _Remember to let him into your heart  
_ _Then you can start to make it better_

He had to hum the next few lines, not recalling all the words - mostly he just liked the melody and most of the words slipped away as he tried to remember them.

_Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders_  
 _Hmm hm hmmm it’s a fool who plays it cool  
_ _And he makes his world a little colder_

Cas had just begun to hum the beginning of the next verse when the door to Michael’s bedroom flew open and Dean was standing there, his jaw hanging open in surprise. He stood awkwardly on his sore feet, leaning heavily on the door to keep the worst of the weight off as Cas continued to sing, thinking quickly to change the lyrics to suit the message he wanted to convey.

_Hey Dean, don’t be afraid_  
 _You were made to make me better_  
 _The minute I let you under my skin  
_ _Then you begin to make things better_

Cas didn’t get a chance to finish the song, or think up any better lyrics, because Dean was grabbing him and pulling him into his arms. Cas pushed the guitar aside, not caring when the strap slipped off its peg and the instrument went crashing into the carpet, because Dean was in his arms, holding him tightly as if he were afraid Cas would disappear like so much smoke if he so much as let him breathe.

“Dean…” he said quietly, clinging back almost as tightly.

“Cas, I’m sorry,” Dean murmured, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine but… can’t breathe,” Cas gasped and Dean sprang backwards quickly then gave a yelp of pain as he barked his heel against the door frame. 

“Dammit, sorry again,” he managed, voice tight with pain, but Cas just shook his head fondly and curled his arm around Dean’s waist, half-carrying and half-walking him back to his own room where the bed was big enough for them both to sit down easily. 

“Sorry I didn’t know all the words,” Cas said finally, once he was satisfied that Dean was seated comfortably with his feet up on the bed and his back against the pillows. 

“Dude, you sang Hey Jude for me. You coulda hummed it as out of tune as that guitar and I’d have loved it.” Dean laughed, reaching out to draw Cas back into his arms. Cas settled in comfortably with a happy hum, and Dean ran his fingers through his dark hair, with Cas leaning into the touch like a cat. 

It should have been weird, realizing their shared feelings, but after the last few weeks of behaving like a couple, it was almost a natural progression for Cas to lean back against Dean’s chest and let him nuzzle behind his ear, pressing soft little kisses to the sensitive skin there. Cas almost felt like things were moving too fast, like they’d resolved their issues too quickly, but yet… it wasn’t really that complicated.

Point one: He wanted Dean.

Point two: Dean wanted him.

Point three: They apparently had the full support of their family members.

Cas could think of no points against the relationship, not that it was especially easy to think right now… He grunted and pulled away a little, just out of reach of Dean’s lips, and the taller boy leaned back against the pillows with a disappointed sigh.

“We need to talk about this, Dean,” Cas said. 

“I know, I know, I was just hoping for a little more, you know, before all the serious talking stuff happened…” Dean grimaced as Cas pulled completely away, turning to face him. Cas put his hands on Dean’s knees, to reassure him that he still craved his touch, even if he wanted to talk for a while first. 

“So…” Cas began, hesitantly, “you’re not straight?” 

Dean stared at him for a moment then burst into laughter, covering one of Cas’ hands with his own and using the other to run his fingers through his hair as he laughed. He gave Cas a cheeky wink and grinned before answering.

“I’m straighter than you,” he stuck his tongue out then shrugged. “I’ve never really thought of myself as one or the other, to be honest. I mean, I know I like chicks, but I can’t say I’m immune to a handsome guy now and again…” He looked sheepish and fidgeted a little before continuing. “I tried so hard to impress you, man, and you just really seemed to dislike me and I had no idea why. I’ve kind of always had a bit of a crush on you, I guess, though I didn’t realise it until the first time I came home alone and I just _really_ wanted to get in your bed. Sorry for the shock, by the way. I actually pretty much forgot all about it though, till we were here and faking this whole boyfriends thing. It just kinda got pushed to the back of my mind, ‘cause we were such good buddies. I didn’t wanna jeopardize that, and so I just stopped thinking about it, it wasn’t important - not as important as our friendship anyway - so I just kind of forgot. Cuddling up by you every night, though… I just…” Dean sighed heavily, looking plaintively at Cas and silently begging him to take over the conversation. Talking about ‘feelings’ was never really Dean’s strong suit, and this was probably the most Cas had ever heard him say on the subject, truth be told.

Cas tangled their fingers together, gently stroking his thumb over the back of Dean’s hand as he contemplated the next thing he wanted to say. 

“My mom has been drawing us,” he said eventually, smiling shyly as Dean’s eyebrows shot up, “it was actually her drawings that first made me realise I felt more for you than platonic friendship, though I think Ruby and Sam had an idea long before even I did. She was sort of… _nudging_ me about it when we went to the mall that time. Thinking back, I think I said something about not feeling any different towards you now than I did before, and I think that said more about the whole situation than most anything else.” He winced at the thought of how it must have sounded to Ruby; he figured she and Sam probably thought he and Dean were pretty silly right about now. 

“Anyway, mom showed me the drawings right before you took off,” his eyes widened and he looked at Dean as a horrific thought just dawned on him. “You _called_ me for help, and I just ignored… oh _Dean_ , I’m so sorry…” Dean began to shake his head emphatically, pulling Cas forward and into his arms again, littering his face with comforting kisses.

“No more of that, no more apologies. We both messed up in our own ways, we’re gonna fix things now, not spend the rest of our vacation apologizing for things we can’t change any more. They’re in the past, let’s look forward, yeah? I’ll forgive you if you’ll forgive me, agreed?” He rested their foreheads together and stroked the back of Cas’ neck soothingly. 

“Agreed,” Cas mumbled, though he didn’t entirely sound convinced. 

“Hey,” Dean said, pulling back until he could look Cas in the eyes, “are you okay? It’s a lot to take in, huh?” 

“I’m fine, really. I just… It _is_ rather a lot to take in. Emotionally speaking, that is. I think I’ll have an easier time resolving the more… _tactile_ aspects of this, than the emotional ones…” 

“Then let’s focus on one thing at a time, yeah?” Dean smiled shyly and leaned forward slowly, not breaking eye contact with Cas and giving him time to pull away or give another indication that he objected before Dean pressed their lips together in what Cas believed was both the most chaste and yet the most wonderful kiss of his life. 

Dean pulled away a mere moment later, but Cas chased him, curling an arm around his shoulders and pulling him back so they could continue kissing. They’d kissed like this before, many times, but it was somehow different even so. Before, it had always been for show, either at a party of some description or for his family. Now, _now_ it was all for them. Because they _wanted_ this and it sparked across Cas’ lips like an electrical current. As he opened his lips he opened his heart and let all of the feelings he had only truly realised he had for Dean that very morning pour into the kiss, leaning forward until Dean was pressed back against the pillows and Cas was licking eagerly into his mouth. He pulled back a little for breath and to make sure he wasn’t hurting Dean, but Dean just whimpered a little as he panted and then hummed happily as Cas resumed his careful exploration of Dean’s mouth. 

For his part, Dean was running his hands across Cas’ back, taking full advantage of the unspoken permission he now had to touch every part of Cas he could reach. Running his fingers through Cas’ hair as they kissed, he stroked down Cas’ spine and smiled at the shiver that ran through the other’s body as Cas made a soft little encouraging noise. It took all of Dean’s self control not to curl his long bowed legs around Cas’ waist and close the last few centimeters of space between them, but it was good that he did for at that very moment two things happened. 

First, Dean’s stomach gave a loud gurgling rumble, making them break apart and laugh at the ridiculous noise. Second came a tentative tap on the door, followed by Muriel’s voice.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys if you’re talking things out, or whatever you’re doing, but if you’re hungry we’ve got dinner downstairs. Or we can save you guys some if you wanna be alone a bit longer. Sorry again.” 

She didn’t sound like she was leaving right away, probably waiting for an answer, so Cas cleared his throat while Dean stifled a laugh with his hand. 

“Uh, we’ll be right down Muriel, give us like… five minutes?” He quirked an eyebrow at Dean, who was desperately holding in laughter and shaking from the effort before he winced and moved the hand from his mouth to his sore ribs. 

“Ouch, laughing ain’t so funny right now,” he grumbled as they both sat up, stretching their muscles with contented noises. “Pick up where we left off later?” Dean winked at Cas, who chuckled at him. 

“Let’s just get you fed first, Dean; worry about everything else later.” 

 

They hadn’t expected everyone to stop what they were doing as they walked into the kitchen where Anna and Chuck were serving up some kind of one pot wonder pasta dish. Gabriel actually halted with the pasta spoon half in and half out of the saucepan and Dean couldn’t help but burst into laughter as the spaghetti caught in the prongs on the spoon slid off and landed on the counter with a loud splat.

“Gabe, dude, I don’t think that’s how pasta spoons work,” Dean laughed, and Cas laughed along with him, shaking his head in disbelief. 

It was like a spell had been broken, and everyone whirled back into motion again; Muriel and Ruby setting the table while Chuck and Anna finished up the sauce and Gabe served the pasta. Sam was slicing a loaf of ciabatta that smelled fresh baked, to Dean’s keen nose, and only they were left without a job to do, standing in the doorway like a couple of waxworks. 

“Well? Sit down!” Anna instructed, waving a wooden spoon in their general direction until they took the seats they had been occupying for the majority of the vacation. 

Everyone took their seats, squabbling over bread and the parmesan cheese Chuck brought to the table to grate over everyone’s meals, and it wasn’t until everyone was settled that eyes slowly began to turn on the two young men who were keeping their heads down and eating quietly, trying not to be the center of attention and failing miserably. 

“Uh…” Gabriel began, and Muriel elbowed him in the ribs.

“So…” Sam continued and then snapped his mouth shut at a glare from Gabriel.

“Oh my god you guys are hopeless,” Ruby sighed. “So what’s the beef, guys? You kiss and make up yet?” As always, Ruby’s blunt and no-nonsense approach won the day.

None of them missed how both Dean and Cas colored at the mention of _kissing_ and making up. 

“Oh my gosh you _did!_ ” Muriel squealed, almost high pitched enough to crack crystal. 

“Shut _up_ Muriel,” Cas hissed, blushing harder until his ears tinged red. 

“You totally did though,” Gabriel teased, leaning over to poke Cas with his fork, “you old dog you. Knew you had it in ya, Cassie,” he grinned. 

“Oh my _god_ ,” Cas groaned, ducking his head and trying to hide behind his fork. 

“So what?” Dean added, a little defensively. “What’s wrong with kissing my b-boyfriend if I want to?” He stammered over the word and Cas’ head shot up as he looked over at Dean. 

“Boyfriend?” He said, tilting his head to one side like a bird. His color hadn’t gone down at all, if anything he only seemed to go even redder as Dean’s face flushed to match.

“I mean, uh, if you want to,” he said shyly, not meeting Cas’ eyes. 

Cas hesitated a few beats before turning back to his family. 

“What he said. What’s wrong with kissing my boyfriend? You had no problems with it just a few days ago.” 

The rest of what he said was drowned out by the sudden cacophony of noise from their collected family members, but Dean and Cas just stared at one another, oblivious to anything else in the light of the relationship that was budding between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I'm probably going to get a few comments regarding how easy it was for things to get fixed, but honestly - I am over heartache and angst and I just wanted them to have some happiness! 
> 
> To justify, bear in mind that they _have_ spent the last few weeks pretending to be in a relationship, aside from actually getting their feelings out there (well, inasmuch as Dean and Cas ever do of their own accord) so it stands to reason, in my mind, that they wouldn't find it too hard to move on once they got past all the self-loathing, self-blaming bullshit they always pull on themselves. Anyway, I beg you to just suspend your disbelief if you can x3 
> 
> OKAY I JUST HAVE A FLUFF ADDICTION SO SUE ME. (No please don't, I'm poor and have expensive hobbies...) 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this (surprisingly swift!) update, look forward to the next one~ Probably only one chapter and perhaps an Epilogue left now!
> 
> I badly injured my left forefinger today, and since my job is basically typing and this is taking a lot of typing... uh... the next chapter might not be so swiftly forthcoming >.> I'll do my best, hopefully it won't affect my typing too much once the plaster (band-aid!) comes off. I just can't feel anything while it's on, so it's frustrating and causing a lot of typos :p


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gonna hold my hands up and admit it; this chapter is like... 90% fluffy porn. 
> 
> Anyone not into the porny stuff can legit skip this chapter with no detraction from the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie though, if you're reading my fics, and not expecting eventual smut, then you're probably reading the wrong ones, let's face it ;)
> 
> It's a bit short, but you'll live I'm sure :P

Cas woke the following morning with a sense of lightness, like a weight had been lifted from his whole body. He turned carefully towards Dean, who lay sleeping beside him with one arm thrown lazily across his hips.

How had he never realized how beautiful Dean is before? Cas let the morning sun warm him as he stared at Dean, committing to memory the way his eyelashes fanned out across his cheeks and counting the freckles he had always been aware of to some degree, but never really noticed before now. It wasn’t unusual for him to wake before Dean when they slept together, though usually that was due to Dean’s late night prior, but Cas was still notoriously not a morning person so he was more than content to lie in bed a while longer and admire his _boyfriend_ as he slept.

Even still, Dean couldn’t sleep forever and it wasn’t long before he was stirring and mumbling in his sleep. Groggy green eyes met blue and Cas found he couldn’t resist the urge to lean own and kiss the sleepy look from his face. Dean made a happy noise and contentedly let Cas kiss him, then stretched lazily like a cat when Cas pulled away.

“Mm, morning Cas, best wake up ever,” Dean mumbled, snuggling closer and winding his arms around Cas’ waist.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” Cas answered fondly, returning the embrace. There was no rush for them to get up, after all.

They spent the better part of an hour just cuddling and kissing, tentatively stretching the boundaries of the friendship that were already in place, and Cas found that Dean made the cutest snuffling noises when kissed just below his earlobe, and also that he could lie in bed and let Dean run his fingers through his hair for _days_ if anyone let him. There was no awkwardness, no rush, no hurried presses of lips and frantic removal of clothing, like they had both so often experienced with other partners, other _relationships_ ; it was like their friendship made all of that _need_ irrelevant, leaving behind soft, shy kisses and gentle sighs, the warm press of skin and the comforting embrace. 

It wasn’t until one of them shifted and their bodies moved _just so_ that they even realised just how affected they were by each other. Dean pulled back in surprise at Cas’ bitten off noise as he brushed the hard length tenting Cas’ pajamas, only absently aware of the jolt of pleasure that shot through his own body as he shifted closer, eager to see what other interesting noises he could get Cas to make. 

He kept the kisses gentle, not wanting to devolve into lust-filled teenager, thank you very much, but began pressing them to Cas’ throat and chasing the press of his lips with occasional flicks of his tongue and the gentle drag of teeth. Cas hummed his approval of this new turn in the morning, and opened like a flower to spread out under Dean’s exploring mouth and nimble fingers. Dean was more than happy to lie beside Cas, caressing him gently - above the belt - and simply enjoying listening to Cas’ breath hitch or his gentle sighs. 

Dean spread his palm over Cas’ chest and felt his heart beat, noting every time it fluttered when Dean kissed or licked a particularly sensitive spot, before moving on to trail teasing fingertips across Cas’ ribs until the man in question couldn’t contain his laugh and grabbed Dean’s wrist, pulling it up to his lips to kiss each knuckle before teasingly running his teeth across the pad of Dean’s thumb. Dean shuddered and leaned in to replace his thumb with his lips and Cas surprised him again, licking into his mouth enthusiastically and gently stroking the back of Dean’s neck in encouragement. 

Being mindful of Dean’s injuries, Cas carefully tugged his t-shirt up over his head and tossed it to the floor before running gentle fingertips over his skin, avoiding his scrapes and bruises as much as possible. Dean’s breath hitched as a fingertip flicked across his nipple, followed closely by Cas’ mouth and his heated wet tongue warmed the puckering nub before he moved away to kiss lightly at Dean’s throat. Dean growled and lowered himself until he was pressed against Cas’ body and ran his hands up under Cas’ own t-shirt, drawing it up over his head and then capturing his mouth in another kiss as he pulled it off and tossed it somewhere towards the direction where his own had landed. 

“Can’t believe,” he mumbled against Cas’ lips, “I can have this, wanted you so long Cas,” he confessed, rubbing their noses together before kissing Cas again, this time pouring all of his withheld feelings into the space between them, all the unspoken words he would have struggled to say aloud. Cas felt his head spin with the force of it, his heart hammering against his chest and - to his surprise - tears rising in the corners of his eyes at just how _happy_ he was to be here, with his best friend, in a position he never expected to be in, that he never knew he wanted, but now that he had it he knew he was never going to let it go again. 

Gently, he curled an arm around Dean’s waist and pressed the other hand against his hip, pushing him backwards until Dean let him flip them, using all the strength he had in his arms not to hurt Dean, until Dean was lying on his back where Cas had been mere moments before. Once Dean was settled, Cas leaned down and peppered his face with kisses, running his fingers through Dean’s hair until the man beneath him was moaning and scrabbling for purchase against his back. 

With teasing slowness, Cas ran his hands down the hard planes of Dean’s body, trailing kisses after his fingertips as he went, until he ran his thumbs over where Dean’s hipbones protruded from above his pajama pants and mouthed over the skin above his waistband. Dean inhaled with a sharp his and Cas felt his body shift as Dean tried to rock his hips, desperate for some kind of pressure to ease the tension in his groin. Cas smiled against his skin and obliged him by reaching down to cup his erection gently. Dean moaned quietly, conscious that they weren’t at home and could be overheard, reaching up to shove his knuckles between his teeth as Cas rubbed his thumb up and down his length through the thin fabric of his pants. 

Again, he chased his hand with his mouth, licking and mouthing at Dean through his pants until Dean gave a strangled cry of frustration. Cas chuckled quietly and gladly divested Dean of his pants, removing his own as well and giving himself a couple of relieving strokes. He wanted to make Dean feel good; after all the awfulness of the previous day he deserved some pleasure, but his own arousal was insistent and he couldn’t ignore it any longer. Pinching the base of his cock in the circle of his thumb and forefinger, he heaved a sigh of relief as the worst of the aching was kept at bay, before leaning down and nuzzling at Dean’s twitching dick. Dean gave another of his delicious moans, and Cas knew he was biting down hard on his knuckles to keep the loudest sounds in. He’d shared an apartment with Dean long enough to know that the man was _loud_ when he got going. This would have to be quick, or everyone in the house would know. 

Castiel stuck out his tongue and pressed the pointed end to the base of Dean’s cock, licking a long stripe up the vein on the underside before swirling his tongue around the head. Dean made an aborted bucking motion with his hips, clearly trying not to move too much and just let Cas do whatever he wanted. Cas couldn’t keep from smiling again, the joy at making Dean feel so good just kept bubbling out of him and he looked up, meeting Dean’s gaze so he could see just how happy this was making Cas. Dean smiled back, his eyes hooded and filled with lust but nonetheless looking as blissed out as Cas was feeling. 

He didn’t want to tease Dean any more, so Cas finally closed his lips around the head of Dean’s cock, once more swirling his tongue around the head before swallowing him down as far as he could go. When he felt Dean press against the back of his throat he swallowed around him and couldn’t stifle the groan that escaped as he heard Dean gasp and felt him twitch in his mouth. 

“Jesus fuck, Cas,” Dean moaned hoarsely as Cas pulled back and swirled his tongue around the head again, gathering the drops of pre-come on his tongue and lapping them up like it was the nectar of the gods. 

“You taste incredible, Dean,” was all he replied with before his mouth was too busy again for conversation and he set up a steady rhythm, working the part of Dean’s shaft with his hand that he couldn’t reach with his mouth. 

“You are way too good at that,” Dean gasped, his head thrown back and his breath coming in quick pants as he fought the urge to thrust into Cas’ mouth. Sure he’d had blow jobs before, but Cas… Cas’ mouth was like that of an angel, velvet soft and warm and slick. He knew just when to suck, when to swallow Dean as deeply as he could and when to pull back to lap at his head or trail his tongue down the shaft. Cas’ thumbs pressed into the crease of Dean’s crotch at the top of his inner leg and were gently massaging the skin there, sending bolts of pleasure through Dean until he thought he was going to lose his mind from the pleasure. Dean began to whimper and Cas smirked, pressing a teasing kiss to Dean’s slit before taking him down, down, down, and holy _fuck_ , he seemed to unhinge his jaw like some kind of prehistoric predator and Dean felt the head of his cock hit the back of Cas’ throat as Cas buried his nose in the coarse, curled hair at the base of his cock. Dean was barely hanging on to his self control by the merest thread when Cas - the bastard - _swallowed_ , and it was all over for Dean. He came with a muffled cry, covering his mouth with one hand as he buried the other in Cas’ hair. 

The blue-eyed boy dutifully swallowed everything Dean gave him and licked him clean besides, looking for all the world like the cat who got the cream as he looked up at Dean from where he was nestled between his legs with half-closed eyes, basking in Dean’s afterglow and studiously ignoring his own increasingly insistent arousal. 

“That’s probably the best damn blow job I ever got,” Dean mumbled, drawing Cas up to kiss him and feeling a shiver run down his spine at tasting himself on Cas’ lips. He’d never understood when his partners insisted he brushed his teeth after oral before he kissed them; part of the reason he found it so hot was getting to taste himself on their tongue afterwards, the thrill of doing something a little bit filthy adding the final touch to an awesome experience. 

“Well, I’ve had a lot of practice,” Cas grinned, holding Dean’s head and kissing him enthusiastically as he rutted against Dean’s hip, unable to withstand the need for pressure. Dean grinned into their kiss and his hand snaked down, curling around Cas’ own erection and making him gasp in surprise before he moaned deeply into Dean’s mouth. 

Cas had been holding back so long he was already slick with pre-come and Dean was more than happy to use that to help his hand glide over Cas’ soft, smooth skin. Stroking him with one hand, it wasn’t long before Dean had Cas gasping and thrusting into his hand, chasing his own orgasm as Dean worked him over. Determined to show he wasn’t exactly a stranger to the finer points of sex with a guy, Dean surprised Cas by trailing a hand down his back and then even lower until he pushed a finger between Cas’ ass cheeks, ghosting a fingertip over the puckered ring of muscle there and Cas startled before coming into Dean’s hand with a shuddering moan. Dean worked him through it, peppering his face with kisses and then giving him a wicked grin as he lifted his hand up and licked himself clean. Cas’ jaw practically dropped and he lunged forward, plunging his tongue into Dean’s mouth to chase his flavor, mingling them together as their tongues tangled. 

Finally they had to draw back for breath and Cas laid his forehead against Dean’s, stroking the side of his face gently as Dean ran his hand over Cas’ lower back, lightly tickling the soft skin there. It occurred to them both at around the same time that they were, in fact, completely naked and although they were both reasonably open guys, this was the most they had ever seen of each other, even in the apartment. One of their basic house rules was ‘no nudity outside of the bedroom or bathroom,’ and since neither was inclined to walk around in the buff in any case, they’d only ever seen each other in shorts or boxers before. 

Dean took a very obvious look at Cas from head to toe then grinned wolfishly as he tightened his arm around Cas’ waist.

“Lookin’ good there buddy,” he teased and Cas had to laugh and shake his head, poking Dean lightly in one of the few unbruised parts of his face.

“Wish I could say the same for you, but… y’know,” Cas smirked, “I can’t help being the better looking of the two of us, after all.” 

“Like hell you are,” Dean laughed, flipping them before Cas knew what had hit him and straddling the smaller guy in an instant, pinning his hands to either side of his head. “Just because you’ve got those stupidly blue eyes,” he said, punctuating the compliment with a kiss to each eyelid, “and the perfectly gorgeous lips that look amazing wrapped around my cock,” he kissed Cas’ lips, “cheekbones I could probably cut myself on,” he kissed each of Cas’ cheeks, “and I guess your nose is pretty cute too,” he kissed the tip of Cas’ nose and then rubbed his own against it, staring deeply into Cas’ eyes. “Aw hell, it’s no wonder I couldn’t keep away from you, I guess you really are the pretty one. Does that make me the smart one?” He grinned and Cas laughed before nodding.

“Well, considering it took me this long to work all this out, I’d say so, yeah,” he affirmed, drawing Dean down for another round of kissing. 

Things were beginning to get a little hot and heavy again when the door slammed open and they both looked up, startled.

“MORNING LOVEBIR-ARGH!” Gabriel yelled, before throwing up his arm to cover his eyes. “DID NOT NEED TO SEE, WHERE’S THE EYE BLEACH!? PUT ON SOME PANTS FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SWEET AND SUGARY!” He backed out of the room quickly and slammed the door behind himself. 

Neither Dean nor Cas were remotely fazed, turning back to one another now the rude interruption had left them. 

“Well, I did tell him not to barge into the room,” Cas said in a thoughtful tone.

“You sure did. It serves him right. Now… where were we?” He leaned down and captured Cas’ lips once more, ignoring the pained cries of Cas’ brother in the hall as he whined about seeing way more of his kid brother than he had ever wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'm gonna get at least _one_ comment about morning breath (well, I won't now I've mentioned it) but honestly, it's something I have not once considered in all my years until I started reading fanfic and realised... it's actually a thing for people. 
> 
> I figure... they're young, in the grip of a brand new relationship, they're not exactly thinking with their upstairs brains right now... mmkay? ;)
> 
> This is basically the last real chapter - the next will be just as short, if not shorter, since it will just be tying up loose ends and the end of the vacation. There will definitely be at least one epilogue, possibly two, depending on how fluffy I'm feeling. And since I desperately need the word count for my NaNo, you may even get at least one of these before the end of the weekend!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things must come to an end, and so too does this fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I intended to write another epilogue for this, but actually it sort of ended itself quite naturally so this will be the final chapter of this piece. Any more and I think I'm flogging a dead horse. This ended up being a lot longer than intended, too, so consider this the end and the epilogue x3
> 
> Enjoy!

Dean and Cas dropped Sam and Ruby off at the airport with instructions to come and visit as soon as they could. Dean even loaned Ruby his walkman and his favorite Metallica tape, insisting that it was the best way to keep calm on an airplane. Sam and Cas just rolled their eyes fondly as they hugged goodbye while Dean showed Ruby how to work the tape player. She knew perfectly well, of course, but they were bonding, and Dean was finally accepting that Ruby had changed, so nobody had the heart to tell Dean that she had an iPod in her purse. It wasn’t a tearful farewell - Dean would swear to that until he was in his grave - but it was a fond one. And despite his hatred for airports and flying, Dean insisted on staying until they knew Sam and Ruby’s flight had departed, even though it meant staying in the most boring side of the airport for hours. It was that or buy their own tickets so they could go through security, and even Dean wasn’t that paranoid - or, at least, his fear that Cas might actually make him _get_ on the plane was strong enough that he was happy to kick around the couple of shops and cafes on the pre-security side of the airport until they saw on the electronic noticeboards that the flight had taken off, and hadn’t heard any worrying explosions to indicate something might have gone wrong. 

The farewell from the Milton’s home the following day was significantly more emotional, with Anna in tears and even Chuck holding back his own as he hugged his son and clapped his son’s boyfriend on the shoulder. Muriel hugged Dean enthusiastically and insisted he sit Cas down and make him watch all the Marvel movies with him so the next time they came home she would be able to actually _talk_ to her brother about them. Dean laughed and promised to try, but Muriel gave him strict instructions that it was perfectly okay, even encouraged, to use sexual blackmail for this noble cause, and Gabriel’s ears went very pink when he heard his younger sister loudly extolling the virtues of the Marvel movies and how they were more than well worth a few days of abstinence. Dean laughed even harder, and promised he’d think about it. A look from Cas implied he wouldn’t be all that successful, however.

Their drive home took significantly less time than the drive out there, since Dean had finally decided that Cas could be trusted to drive the Impala. They were both completely ready to get back to their own apartment and drove in shifts, stopping only when they absolutely needed to. They managed to cut the week-long drive down by several days, and soon enough they were walking through their own door and dropping their bags inside with relieved groans before flopping down on the couch together. 

The worst of Dean’s injuries had mostly healed now; he had looked far worse than he actually was and had managed to escape with only bruising for the most part. It was only his feet that had suffered particularly badly, so he’d spent the last few days at Cas’ parents house staying off of them as much as possible and playing card games with Muriel while Cas fussed over and doted on him, much to everyone’s amusement. Even they were mostly better now, since Cas had done such a good job of cleaning and dressing them every day that there had been no infections and no pieces of glass or gravel stuck in the flesh to slow the healing process. It _had_ meant that Dean had to let Cas do most of the driving, though, since he just wasn’t up to keeping his foot on the gas for extended periods of time, but for once it had been nice to just be able to relax and enjoy the journey. 

They’d been relaxing on the couch for about half an hour, slowly shuffling into more and more comfortable positions, when Cas’ head suddenly shot up from its place resting on Dean’s chest. Dean raised an eyebrow at him and pushed himself up onto his elbows so he could look at his boyfriend better.

“What’s up, Cas?” He asked, realizing that Cas wasn’t going to come out and say whatever was bothering him. 

“Well, I was just thinking… How does this work now? Do we keep our rooms how they are? Or get a new roommate? Or make it a study? If we move into one room, whose room do we move into? I’ve never lived with a partner before, I don’t know what the etiquette is…” His face was getting gradually more panicked and Dean quickly pulled him in, kissing him gently until he calmed down enough for Dean to draw away and look him in the eye once more.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just leave things how they are. They work, right? What did you sister say? That we were already filling that, like, partner role or whatever in each other’s lives. So we’ll go on doing that. And if sometimes you sleep in my bed, and sometimes I sleep in yours, and sometimes we sleep apart, then that’s our business isn’t it? I mean, c’mon Cas…” he smiled and pulled Cas in, resting their foreheads together and stroking the back of Cas’ neck with his fingertips, “when have we ever done anything the conventional way? Let’s just wing it, see how we go,” he smiled and kissed Cas’ nose then leaned back down and drew Cas with him. 

His fingers trailed lazy shapes on Cas’ back through his t-shirt, and it wasn’t long before Cas relaxed again. Soon enough both of them were fast asleep, lying together on the couch in their apartment and oblivious to anything else but each other.

 

When school started up again, Dean and Cas were both surprised to find that very little had changed since the summer and the revelation about their new relationship. Most of their friends had had one of two reactions; either complete shock followed by interrogating Dean about his apparent not-straightness, or blasé dismissal coupled with some variation of “no duh” - with an especial follow up from Charlie of “if you guys had spent one more semester making doe eyes at each other but not fucking I’d have been forced to do something about it myself, but grats all the same.” 

With the exception that they not shared a bed more often than not - except on study or exam nights, when they both decided sleep was more important and neither of them could be trusted to _just_ sleep in the same bed together - very little else changed. They both paid their share of the rent and bills, they both bought the food they always had and shared it just as they always had. They went to their classes, did their homework, met up for lunch or to study in the library, went to work at their part time jobs, just as they always had. 

Nothing had really changed, and yet… _everything_ had changed. Somehow everything was so much better than it had been before. Cas woke up to an armful of warm, firm body each morning and nuzzled close, tucking his face into the space behind Dean’s ear and smiling. Dean turned to face bright, blue eyes and kissed soft lips before getting up to start the coffee maker as he always had. They took turns to shower or, if they had plenty of time before class, showered together. And everything was… different, the same, perfect. 

And one morning Cas woke up with one of his earth-shattering blow jobs, and Dean smiled at him in the afterglow and said, “damn, I love you,” as if his brain had shorted out and it was all he could think. Cas beamed and kissed the shock from his boyfriend’s face, since Dean was never one for emotional declarations or anything closely resembling a “chick flick moment,” and apparently could barely believe he’d come right out and said it, even though he’d been thinking it for weeks.

“If it helps, I love you too,” Cas said after a few moments of just enjoying the feeling hearing the words said aloud gave him, wanting to share that feeling with Dean too. 

Dean dove on him and kissed him till his head span, then sucked him off till he saw stars and then kissed him some more. 

Charlie won fifty bucks from Benny on the “who’ll say it first” pool, and took them all out for drinks to celebrate her windfall. She knew Dean better than anyone except Cas, and had correctly guessed that Dean would blurt it out unthinkingly - she’d gotten another fifty from Garth for guessing he’d say it during or after sex; Garth had a romantic notion that Dean would say it over dinner or something, but Charlie had just scoffed and said he clearly didn’t know Dean all that well, and had gladly taken his money despite it being an easy bet. 

Ruby and Sam called every other week - and not always at the same time. Sometimes Ruby would call to talk to Dean, complaining about Sam or some other silly thing while Dean gave her bad advice that she never took and they both laughed at stupid things. Ruby recommended new bands to Dean that were similar to his tastes, and Dean told her what TV shows were worth watching and what weren’t. When he managed to get her into a show he was currently watching, they began to call each other to talk about the finer points of each episode, and Sam was glad his brother had finally gotten over his hang ups about Ruby. 

Cas spoke to Sam almost as often as Dean did, since he was more interested in similar things to the younger Winchester and they shared a lot of common interests that they could talk about while Dean and Ruby talked TV. It was a nice feeling for them both, to know they got along well enough with each other that they didn’t require their partners in the conversation to keep things from being awkward. 

Anna sent them some framed pictures for Christmas, ones she had drawn over the summer that she had fine polished until they were gorgeous works of art. Even though Dean was a little embarrassed about having pictures of them up in the apartment, he couldn’t deny her work was beautiful and they finally agreed to put one in the lounge and one in Cas’ bedroom. That way Dean could always escape to his own room, if he felt uncomfortable having his own face staring at him from the wall. He never did, though, and Cas was of the opinion that Dean secretly liked the pictures more than he did. And he was right.

Dean took Cas home for Christmas and Mary greeted him in much the same way Anna had greeted Dean in the summer, hugging him tight and telling him how happy she was to see him. They’d met before, of course, but things were, well, things were _different_ now. Even though they didn’t _feel_ so different, as far as Dean was concerned. 

And Dean was happy to watch Cas move around his home like it was his own, like he _belonged_ there with his family. Cas talked to his mom about school and complimented her cooking, and he talked to his dad about sports and listened with interest when John talked about the inner workings of a car and how he’d taught Dean to take care of the Impala since he was a kid. Cas said he could see why Dean loved the old car so much, when it held so many fond memories of his father and family, and John coughed and excused himself, saying he was going to Bobby’s for a beer. Dean whispered to Cas later that night, as they lay in bed facing each other and holding hands, that John was even worse for talking about feelings than he was, and that heading to Bobby’s was his way of saying he was touched by what Cas had said. Cas kissed his fingers and felt his whole body warm at the fondness he felt for Dean’s family. They weren’t perfect - what family are, after all - but they loved their sons fiercely and the fact that Dean’s father had accepted Cas into their family without a single quirked eyebrow or harsh word, despite how Cas knew the former Marine had quite a conservative upbringing, was a testament to that fact. 

 

Everyone was surprised when Dean proposed the following year. And by everyone, they mean almost their entire graduating class, since Dean decided the most appropriate place to ask Castiel Milton to marry him was on stage in front of hundreds of virtual and literal strangers. Cas, of course, said he’d think about it, before kissing Dean and snagging the ring box from his shocked fiancé’s hand before they were chased off stage by a cross looking faculty member. Anna and Mary cried and hugged each other in the audience while John and Chuck shook hands and gruffly said things along the lines of ‘welcome to the family’. Sam, Ruby, Muriel and her new boyfriend Kevin all whooped and hollered from their own seats before the same faculty member glared them all into submission so the ceremony could continue. 

Cas took a job at the library translating texts and acting as a liaison between non-English speaking patrons and the other staff while Dean lucked out and found a role with a company whose primary focus was the restoration and maintenance of classic cars. When Dean had shown up driving the ’67 Chevrolet Impala and had shown intimate knowledge of her workings, as well as having restored her from the ground up after an accident that nearly killed his dad, they had hired him on the spot and he had never been happier. 

They moved to a new apartment, slightly bigger with a third guest bedroom so they didn’t have to put people up on the fold out couch anymore. They kept their own rooms, though almost never slept apart. Somehow no matter how bad the fight was, they rarely slept on it and almost always made up - noisily, to the chagrin of their neighbours - before turning in for the night. 

Cas persuaded Dean to get a kitten, and Dean persuaded Cas to pull his old guitar out of storage at his parents house, tune it and take up playing again. Their apartment was soon filled with the soothing melodies of Cas’ guitar, punctuated by the staccato of Dean swearing as the cat found her way under his feet for the hundredth time that day. 

All in all, not a bad outcome for a pair of idiots who thought they could fake their way through a relationship neither of them realized was there all along.

 

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with me, thank you all for your patience with my erratic update schedule and for your kind comments both here and on Tumblr. I've truly enjoyed writing this fic, and I hope you guys have enjoyed reading it too :) 
> 
> Special thanks, of course, to the inimitable Pinkish, for the idea that sparked this whole mess. I love you, my dear muse <3 
> 
> Here's to the next journey~

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to tumble with me! On my [main blog](http://faeryn.tumblr.com) or my [very quiet writing sideblog.](http://faerynfics.tumblr.com)  
> (I track the tag _BFTS fic_ if you want to post something for me to see!)


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